EDITORIAL: THE SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT ON PLATEAU: THE REFLECTIONS AND THE LESSONS FOR LEGAL LUMINARIES/JUDGES

Once again, the Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) has demonstrated that completing school can never be compared to experience on the job. It has also as a Court of Law and Policy, reiterated and re-vibrated the policies of the Court to the other Courts below.

The Supreme Court took the Judgments delivered on the 12^th of January 2024, involving 7 states’ Governorship political tussles, which included that of Plateau State, to reestablish that the issue(s) of Congresses, Primaries, Nominations and Sponsorships of Candidates by a Political Party, can only be determined by the Federal High Court (FHC) of Nigeria and not the State High Courts, while frowning at the Tribunals and the Court of Appeal for assuming Jurisdiction in the matter, especially as it concerned Plateau State elected officers at all levels.

This therefore informs Nigerians and the Legal Community that education alone cannot hold without experience.

A quick reflection on the development of the case of lack of alleged lack of STRUCTURE and Non-Compliance to Court Orders would speak volumes on this in Plateau State.

1. The Plateau State High Court presided over by Hon. Justice S. P. Gang, assumed Jurisdiction over the matters arising from the Plateau State chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Congress in 2020, and at the end he delivered Judgment which nullified the State Congress and gave specific Orders. He never knew that he had no Jurisdiction.
2. Justice Boniface Ngyo, presided over another Plateau State High Court in Pankshin and also assumed Jurisdiction over the same Congress issues of the PDP. The Judge granted an Order to stop the repeated Congress and finally nullified the Congress. He never knew that he had no Jurisdiction.
3. The Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) and all its Legal Advisers stopped the PDP from Contesting Local Government Council (LGC) elections in the entire 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Plateau State, relying on the Orders of Justice S. P. Gang and the Advisers also never knew that the Judge had no power to grant such Orders as he never had the Jurisdiction to hear the matter before him in the first place.
4. Strangely, the Chief Judge of Plateau State did not put Jurisdiction into consideration and place in his consideration when he assigned the suit of PDP challenging the power(s) and action(s) of PLASIEC to Hon. Justice I. Kunda, who later became the presiding Judge in the matter.
5. Justice Kunda, and all the Legal Teams that appeared before him, throughout the hearing of the case never raised the issue of Jurisdiction. They dealt with every other legal issues, but Jurisdiction.
6. The Federal High Court, Jos Division, also bowed to this non-knowingness, when it ruled that it does not have the Jurisdiction, to entertain the same Congress issue when brought before it. It rather upheld the reasoning of the Legal Team of the PDP that it lacks Jurisdiction as there was an abuse of Court processes as raised in the Preliminary Objection in the suit.
7. The Court of Appeal, Jos Division, also celebrated the faulty lines as currently exposed by the Supreme Court, when it assumed Jurisdiction and not only upheld the decisions of the FHC and the Plateau State High Court but went ahead to Sack elected State and National officers of the PDP.
8. The issues of the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal Abuja Division are still fresh in mind as the Supreme Court delivered in its 12^th January Judgments.
9. The above issue(s) and the surrounding circumstances call on Legal Luminaries in practice to study the Law to avoid this form of careless interpretation in the future.
10. All though the wrongs and rights have been acknowledged, we call on all persons and political parties to obey the Judgments, while those responsible for moving and improving the country’s Laws and Electoral Act should begin the processes of amending the existing ones to meet up with the Supreme Court’s “Lecture Notes”.