A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, has said it is
wrong for the President, Muhammadu Buhari, to disobey the
Supreme Court order on the old naira notes.
The apex court had in an interim order restrained the
Federal Government from suspending the acceptance of the old naira notes.
But in a statement on Friday, Ozekhome described the order
by the President as a ‘dicta, more in the form of a military Decree’.
The statement partly read, “Buhari, in his broadcast on
Thursday, February 16, 2023, unilaterally varied the apex court’s extant order
of maintenance of status quo, by directing the CBN Governor to the effect that
‘the old N200 banknotes be released back into circulation…to circulate as legal
tender with the new N200, N500 and N1000 bank notes for 60 days…’
“The President then issued a dicta, more in the form of a
military Decree, that, ‘in line with section 20 (3) of the CBN Act, 2007, all
existing old N1000 and N500 notes remain redeemable at the CBN and designated
prints’.
“This order is a clear violation of and disobedience to the
existing order of the apex court which had already maintained the status quo
ante bellum of all parties involved in the Naira re-design dispute.
“The Supreme Court had on Wednesday, February 15, 2023,
after the first interim order, adjourned the suit originally filed by the
Attorneys-General of Kano, Kogi and Zamfara states (other interested parties
were later joined) to February 22, to enable it hear the entire matter
holistically.”
The senior lawyer added that Nigerians expected the
president to obey the law, adding that by the disobedience of Buhari, he had
exhibited the trait of an Emperor and Overlord.
Ozekhome said, “Every Nigerian had expected that the Federal
Government would respect this apex court’s position. But President Buhari
demurred. He made himself Supreme Leader; an Emperor; Potentate, Mikado and
Overlord.
“Buhari’s broadcast
to the nation therefore literally overruled the Supreme Court of the land, in a
way and manner only a military tyrant could ever contemplate.
“Buhari’s action is a reminder of the apocryphal saying of
autocratic and despotic Emperor Louis XIV, who, on 13th April, 1655, stood in
front of Parliament and imperiously declared, ‘L’Etat C’est Moi (I am the
State)”. This was to underline the fact that he and he alone, had absolute
power over his Nation.'”
Ozekhome said apart from being a direct assault on the apex
court, Buhari’s order could lead to chaos and anarchy.
He said, “Buhari’s imperious order was a frontal call to
chaos, anarchy and national upheaval. It was a direct assault on the authority
of the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land; and also the head of the
entire Judiciary, the 3rd arm of government under the doctrine of separation of
powers, most ably popularized in 1748 by Baron de Montesque, a great French
Philosopher.
“To have whimsically and capriciously varied the order of
the Supreme Court was to pick and choose what order to obey or disobey. This
breaches the supremacy of the 1999 Constitution provided for in section 1(1) thereof.
It also frontally assaults the provisions of section 287(1) of the Constitution
which provides that ‘the decisions of the Supreme Court shall be enforced in
any part of the Federation by all authorities and persons, and by courts with
subordinate jurisdiction to that of the Supreme Court.'”
Making allusion to the Supreme Court, in the case of ABACHA
V. FAWEHINMI (2000) 6 NWLR (Pt. 660) 228 at page 317 E-F, he noted, “’A court
order must be obeyed and even if it is a nullity, it has to be set aside on
appeal against it. Per NWALI SYLVESTER NGWUTA, JSC (Pp 25 – 25 Paras D – E).
See also the locus classicus of GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE VS. OJUKWU (1986) 1
NWLR PT. 18, PG. 621.”
He advised the Supreme Court not to allow this slide, since
the President in his speech alluded that the matter was before the apex court.
Ozekhome said, “This is one instance where the apex court
should bare its teeth and bite. This is more so because President Buhari had
himself acknowledged in his speech, the pendency of the matter before the
Supreme Court. Surely, no one is above the law; not even President Buhari
himself.”
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