Lawyers Support Supreme Court Warning to Judgment Critics

Some lawyers have backed the Supreme Court over its warning against public criticism of its judgements. They said members of the public, opinion leaders and public commentators should be careful before rushing to denigrate the judiciary.

The Supreme Court on Saturday came hard on persons and groups whom it said had been “venting convoluted anger”, following its recent pronouncements, which affirmed a former governor of the Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, and Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as senatorial candidates of the All Progressives Congress in the February 25, 2023 election.

The Director of Press and Information at the Supreme Court, Dr Festus Akande, in a statement titled, ‘Be mindful of unwarranted attacks on judicial officers’ said, “We are not politicians and should not, by any stroke of imagination, be cast in that mould either. Nobody’s interest can ever supersede the interest of everybody. Nigeria is bigger than every one of us. A word is enough for the wise.”

The apex court also warned purveyors of such attacks on the judiciary and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, to desist from such and channel such energies to political parties which “fail to organise themselves appropriately.

It also took a swipe at United States-based professor, Farooq Kperogi, and Progressive Minds Forum over their opinions on the judgements.

The statement noted that over 600 cases had so far gone to court from party primaries conducted by political parties without any encumbrance or interference from any external body.

The statement added, “Our silence must not be mistaken for weakness or cowardice. Certainly, every Nigerian citizen has an inalienable right to express his or her opinion without any encumbrance; but even in the course of expressing such a fundamental right, we should be circumspect enough to observe the caution-gate of self-control in order not to infringe on another person’s right.

“Even in a state of emotional disequilibrium, we should be reasonable enough to make a good choice of decent words. No court in any clime is a Father Christmas; so, no one can get what he or she didn’t ask for. Similarly, all matters are thoroughly analysed and considered based on their merits and not the faces that appear in court or sentiments that attempt to becloud the sense of reasoning.

“So, for anyone in his or her right frame of mind to insinuate that the justices have been bought over by some unknown and unseen persons is, to say the least, a bizarre expression of ignorance, which definitely has no place in law or even in the realm of pedestrian reasoning. We shall continuously do our best to discharge our constitutional responsibility to keep the country together and move the nation along the path of peace, progress and development.”

In his reaction, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kunle Adegoke, said if court judgments must be criticised, it must be from an informed point of view not just on perception.

In an interview with press, he said, “There is nothing wrong in criticising court judgments; they are public documents available for public scrutiny. But enlightened criticism demands that criticism is based not only on logic but also the law because, sometimes, a judgment might sound illogical to the public but might be sound in law. If we expose the judiciary to ridicule, we will erode confidence and introduce anarchy which will not benefit anyone.”

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN) had on Thursday said he was enraged when he read Kperogi’s article on the apex court’s judgement.

Speaking on Thursday during a valedictory court session held in honour of Justice Ibrahim Buba, Maikyau said, “When I read the heart-rending statements by Professor Farooq Kperogi over the judgement of the Supreme Court in the case involving Bashir Machina and Ahmed Lawan, I was burning with rage against Kperogi, only to hear like a whisper in my ear, while I sat alone lamenting that, “you people started it, you Senior Advocates of Nigeria.”

He condemned the appearance of lawyers on the television castigating Supreme Court judgements, saying such lawyers would face the consequences of their actions.

Meanwhile, a lawyer, Dr Kayode Ajulo, on Saturday expressed support for the NBA president on plans to sanction lawyers criticising the judiciary over some judgments, adding that if politicians must respect the law, lawyers, as custodians of the law, must first make it respectable through their actions.

He added, “Yes, we cannot appeal against the judgment of the Supreme Court and I maintain that we are of the noble profession and what is expected of us is to critique the judgment. We all should know that the immeasurable commitment and service of this noble profession is why well-meaning Nigerians still have hope in this challenged country. This is why we must always guide the institution jealously at all times, irrespective of the noise of those who want to influence the profession through emotional means.”