Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has accused
Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), of manipulating the
federal high court to issue conflicting orders on the validity of section
84(12) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The section provides that: “No political appointee at any
level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress
of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any
election.”
Recall that a federal high court in Abuja
restrained the national assembly from taking any further step regarding section
84 (12).
But last week, a federal high court in Umuahia, Abia state,
ordered the attorney-general of the federation to delete the section from the
amended electoral act.
Malami had, thereafter, said the federal government was
taking the necessary steps towards deleting the section.
Reacting to Malami’s statement, Falana said a group of
lawyers recently filed two cases at the federal high court on the
constitutional validity of the section after another division of the same court
had granted an interim order on the same provision.
Falana said aside from the suit filed in Abia, a similar one
titled ‘FHC/IB/CS/32/2022: Chief Oyewole Bolanle v attorney-general of the
federation’ was filed at the Ibadan judicial division of the federal high court
but the case was struck out by the judge.
The senior lawyer said Malami, who is the defendant in both
cases, did not draw the attention of the Ibadan and Umuahia judicial divisions
of the federal high court to the fact that the Abuja division of the same court
had, on March 7, 2022, restrained the AGF, President Muhammadu Buhari, national
assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from
“refusing to implement” the provisions of the section.
He also said Malami failed to disclose to the Umuahia
judicial division of the federal high court that the Ibadan division had struck
out a similar case for want of locus standi.
“In any case, since the case pending at the Ibadan judicial
division of the federal high court was well reported in the print and
electronic media, the judge sitting in the Umuahia judicial division ought to
have struck out the fresh case before her as it constituted a gross abuse of
court process,” Falana said.
“It is pertinent to note that while the attorney-general of
the federation pretended not to know about the order of interim injunction
granted by the Abuja judicial division of the federal high court, he has
announced the plan of the federal government to comply with the judgment
delivered in the Umuahia case as soon as possible.”
According to Falana, if Malami goes ahead to delete section
84(12), he would be liable to contempt of court as the Abuja division of the
federal high court has restrained him and other defendants from enforcing the
provision “pending the determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory
injunction”.
“We submit, without any fear of contradiction, that unless
the valid and subsisting order of the Abuja judicial division of the federal
high court is set aside either by the trial judge or an appellate court, the
attorney-general of the federation cannot delete section 84(12) of the
Electoral Act,” he said.
“It is trite that the attorney-general cannot choose and
pick the orders of court to obey or disobey, more so, when it is undoubtedly
clear that the attorney-general deliberately set out to manipulate the federal
high court to issue conflicting orders in a desperate move to annul section
84(12) of the Electoral Act.
“No doubt, this is the first time in the entire history of
Nigeria that the office of the attorney-general of the federation has engaged
in forum shopping for favourable orders of the the federal high court or any
other court.
“It is high time the
dangerous manipulation of the federal high court was stopped as the nation
prepares for the 2023 general election.”
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