If our Mighty Supreme Court did not come out via her official public image maker to publicly defend herself and admonish those that criticised her Naira Redesign Ex-parte Order, a lawyer like my good self who took an oath to defend our noble profession and law institutions, would not have bothered to join issues with her. But this is Law of Evidence 101. By coming out publicly to defend her ill-conceived Ex-parte Order, she has opened the door wide open for public scrutiny. And, all bets are off.
For purposes of clarity and brevity, I will use my first-year Law School good old friend, IRAC, to make sense out of this nonsensical volt-jumping by those that are supposed to know best. This famous acronym stands for Issue, Rule, Analysis and Conclusion. And, its primary function is to keep legal writing rails on the track.
For starters, let me quote or paraphrase one of the greatest, if not the greatest, jurist of our time, Hon. Justice Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa of blessed memory: “We are final not because we are infallible; rather, we are infallible because we are final”.
He was talking about this very Supreme Court. Streetly speaking, his admonition is that the Supreme Court is the Last-Man-Standing. And, if she fails, the country may plunge into anarchy. Period!
Issue:
Does the Supreme Court have Original Jurisdiction over the judicial interpretation of a Federal Statute, in the instant case, a CBN Act?
Rule:
Original Jurisdiction for judicial interpretation of a Federal Statute such as the CBN Act lies with Federal High Court. But, the Supreme Court has Original Jurisdiction in a dispute between the Federal Government and State Government(s).
Analysis:
This is a non-pedantic presentation that will NOT get into the nitty gritty of an Ex-parte Order to show the rascality of the parties involved. Only the definition will do.
“An Ex-parte Order of Interim Injunction is a constitutional leverage specifically given to Judges to make an order in exceptional circumstance granting the request of an applicant in a suit in the interim without hearing from the other party.”
Therefore, if this order is granted only in “exceptional circumstance”, one would have expected the Supreme Court and those self-appointed public defenders that brought the suit, at the barest minimum, to get the legal issue before the Court right. The issue formulation, in this case, was intentionally faulty and the consideration of Judicial Interpretation of a Federal Statute as a Dispute between the Federal Government and State Government(s) is very troubling. And, more troubling is the conduct of elected governors involved. For lack of a better word, their conduct is nefarious and quite capable of turning Nigeria into a Banana Republic. And, they knew that.
Governor El Rufai and his gang sold San Francisco Bridge to a “willing” Supreme Court. And, given the recent controvercial and nauseating decisions of this Court such as Imo State Gubar Election, the majority of Nigerians are very suspicious of the Court’s infallibility. I agree.
Even a first-year law student knows that there is no identifiable dispute between Federal government and State government(s) that would have given Supreme Court an Original Jurisdiction. This case strictly involves judicial interpretation of CBN Act that would have taken its sweet time through the Federal High Court with Original Jurisdiction and the Court of Appeal for appellate review before it gets to the Supreme Court for final determination in about one year on a Fast Track. But the governors were in a big hurry to obtain a favourable ruling, anyway they can, supposedly in the interest of the general public that they never cared about. They intentionally and shamelessly did NOT join Central Bank which would have derailed their nefarious stunt.
The Supreme Court does NOT have Original Jurisdiction in the instant case involving Judicial Interpretation of a Federal Statute (CBN Act) and, the Supreme Court’s consideration of this case as a dispute between the Federal Government and State Government(s) is disingenuous.
Okey (Oduma) Chidolue, Esq.
Nnewi, Anambra State
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