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Orji Agwu Uka

@OrjiUka

Aug 8

Controversial Post Alert!

One thing that we can all agree on is that in the course of its 60+ years of existence, the Supreme Court of Nigeria has proved itself to be one of the most important institutions of the Government of Nigeria. The Court attained this through the thousands of decisions that have emanated from the hallowed chambers of the Court’s Justices.

With an estimate of about 10,000 judgments delivered by the apex Court since 1963, attempting to select the 10 most influential of these cases is an impossible task. But that is precisely what I have set out to do in this thread. Obviously, I am not old enough to have experienced the apex Court in all its glory, but I have a sense of the outstanding history of the Court.

In arriving at this final 10, I have considered the frequency with which the chosen cases have been cited subsequently in other cases; I have prioritised decisions that have stood the test of time, especially those that have not been overturned or are unlikely to be overturned; I have included famous and notorious decisions alike, including some that I don't like; and also those that changed the course of history; etc.

Any Nigerian lawyer that is not familiar with these cases should safeguard their Call to Bar Certificate as their most prized possession, because if the Council of Legal Education sees it, they are entitled to retrieve it.

I should also add that this listed is limited to decisions of the Nigerian Supreme Court and so landmark cases such Rylands v Fletcher (1868), Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co (1893), Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd (1897), Donoghue v Stevenson (1932), Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation (1948), etc. which greatly influenced, and perhaps continues to influence legal jurisprudence in Nigeria, have no place in the list.

Without further ado, please see below my list of the 10 Most Influential Judgments of the Nigerian Supreme Court since 1960.

1. Madukolu v. Nkemdilim (1962) 2 S.C.N.L.R. 341

When the Federal Supreme Court Coram Brett, Taylor and Bairamian (F.JJ.) delivered the judgment in Madukolu v. Nkemdilim on Monday, the 12th day of November 1962, I am not sure that even they knew how far reaching that judgment would go. I do not think that there is any other Nigerian case that has been cited as many times as Madukolu v. Nkemdilim which established the fundamental principles of a court's competence to exercise jurisdiction. In essence, the Supreme Court held that a court must be properly constituted, the subject matter must be within its jurisdiction, the case must be initiated by due process, and any conditions precedent to jurisdiction must be fulfilled. It is impossible for you to argue the question of jurisdiction without referencing or thinking about Madukolu v. Nkemdilim. This is why the case made its way to the top of the list.

2. Lakanmi v. AG West (1971) 1 UILR 201

Some of the features of the military interventions that Nigeria suffered from 1966 to 1999 were the suspension of certain provisions of the Constitution; the instatement of Military Decrees as the supreme law of the land; and the introduction of ouster clauses that severely limited the jurisdiction of courts to challenge and the decisions of the military administrations. One of the early challenges faced by the Nigerian judiciary following the first of such military interventions in 1966 was whether the Military rulers were above the law or whether their actions were subject to judicial review by courts. Lakanmi v. AG West provided the Supreme Court with perhaps the first opportunity to address this question, and the Supreme Court rose to the occasion with a statement judgment on 24 April 1970. It had to take the enactment of Decree No. 28 of 1970, by the Federal Military Government to specifically overturn Lakanmi v. AG West and retroactively validate military decrees and oust the jurisdiction of courts to review them. This decision also gave birth to the famous “doctrine of necessity” which we have since abused and applied to sundry and mundane issues.

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Orji Agwu Uka

@OrjiUka

Apr 21

I am not a Catholic, but for decades - especially since reading David Yallop’s book, THE POWER AND THE GLORY and Dan Brown’s novel, ANGELS AND DEMONS - I have been intrigued by the Catholic Church. This might not come out well, but for a church steeped in a 2000-year-old tradition, one of the most fascinating Catholic events is the death of a Pope.

When a Pope dies, the world literally stops for a while and the major networks cease their originally scheduled programming for hours, if not days.

Incidentally the last time a sitting Pope died was on 2 April 2005, which means that many have never witnessed the traditions and ceremonies that surround the death and funeral of a Pope. With the passing of Pope Francis today, Easter Monday at the age of 88, I decided to explore this.

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Orji Agwu Uka

@OrjiUka

Apr 11, 2023

In recent times, I have been seeing tweets asking what became of the criminal trial involving Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, former Governor of Abia State, Senator representing Abia North Senatorial Zone and the Senate Chief Whip. Those tweets also piqued my interest and got me digging.

I present to you an intriguing case that raises several questions about the Nigerian criminal justice system. This is merely an informative or, if you like, educative thread and will not involve my personal views. Also, everything here is sourced from publicly available info.

About 16 years ago, precisely in the year 2007, the Federal Republic of Nigeria acting through the EFCC commenced criminal proceedings against Senator Orji Uzor Kalu; Ude Udeogu, former Director of Finance & Accounts; and Slok Nigeria Limited, a company belonging to Senator Kalu.

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Orji Agwu Uka

@OrjiUka

Feb 10, 2023

1. For decades, something critical has been missing in the justice delivery system in Nigeria - the lack of clarity regarding the jurisprudential or ideological leanings of our Justices, especially the Law Lords at the Supreme Court. In a way this shouldn't have been a surprise.

2. The best thing a country's justice system can offer the business community is legal certainty. It is secondary if court decisions are wrong, or wrath injustice. What is primary is that the legal community must be able to consistently prophesy with a reasonable degree ...

... of accuracy, what the courts of the country will do when presented with any given situation. One way to achieve that is by being able to decipher the ideological leanings of the Justices, especially of the policy court.

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Orji Agwu Uka

@OrjiUka

Jun 8, 2022

@OmoGbajaBiamila

I will start this thread with a quote from a tweet by @OmoGbajaBiamila earlier today, “[d]emocracy guarantees your right to freedom of choice. However, that choice of yours is up for debate, questioning and critique by others, and that's another right guaranteed by democracy.”

The above has become necessary in view of the torrents of abuses that supporters of Mr. Peter Obi now routinely dish out to anyone who exercises a constitutional right to express an opinion against his candidature. These days, that's all it takes to become public enemy No. 1.

The abuses reached their zenith in the days ahead of the PDP presidential primaries before Peter Obi resigned his membership of the PDP. It got to the extent that Mr. Obi had to publicly censure his supporters and urged them to be of better conduct.

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Orji Agwu Uka

@OrjiUka

Mar 20, 2022

On 25 February 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari reluctantly assented to the new Electoral Act, 2022, but objected to Sec. 84(12) in the Act, and asked the National Assembly to re-consider it. On 9 March 2022, the National Assembly the National Assembly declined this request.

On 16 March 2022, the Hon Attorney General of the Federation while fielding questions from correspondents after the weekly FEC Meeting hinted that the FGN (Executive) is considering suing the National Assembly. On 18 March 2022, the Federal High Court struck down the section.

I have been in law practice for a few years now, at least since November 2012, I have not seen anything like this. In this thread, I will do my best to refrain from calling names but simply state things as they are. I will also not delve into the substance of the judgment.

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