The Nigerian Bar and Bench had quite a challenging year in 2023, no thanks to the pre-election matters and election petitions that arose from the 2023 general election.
Aggrieved Candidates who contested the presidential and National Assembly elections in February 25; governorship and state houses of assembly elections on March 18, 2023; in the different political parties, filed the petitions for varying reasons, drafting the declared winners and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defenders.
The federal government introduced newly redesigned 200, N500, and N1,000 notes last year with a tight deadline to mop up the old notes from circulation.
On February 16, 2023, former President Muhammadu Buhari made an order that only the old N200 notes should remain legal tender.
However, on March 3, the Supreme Court ordered that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes should remain in circulation until December 31, 2023.
The apex court also nullified the federal government’s naira redesign policy, declaring it an affront to the 1999 Constitution.
New judges of the Federal High Court
In August this year, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, and two others were arraigned before the Court of the Federal Capital Territory on a 20-count charge bordering on alleged breach of procurement laws.
On October 4, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, inaugurated 23 new judges of the Federal High Court
Justice Ariwoola charged the judges to always apply constitutional provisions in deciding each case assigned to them.
On October 11, over 1,000 candidates who passed the bar final examination were called to the Nigerian Bar by the Body of Benchers.
Addressing the new lawyers, the Chairman of the Body of Benchers and retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Mary Odili, urged them to adhere strictly to the stipulated rules at all times while embracing professional conduct.
Also, the Supreme Court on October 26 upheld President Bola Tinubu’s election victory, bringing to an end a legal challenge brought by his two main rivals, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who argued that his victory was marred by irregularities.
Legal Year
To mark the commencement of the 2022–2023 legal year of the Supreme Court on November 27, 58 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) were sworn in by the CJN.
Justice Ariwoola urged them to do everything possible to prioritise the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.
Nnamdi Kanu’s trial
On December 15, the Supreme Court ordered the continuation of the trial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the acclaimed leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), on terrorism charges.
The Apex Court, in the lead judgement prepared by Justice Tijjani Abubakar, ruled that there is no Nigerian law that prohibits the use of illegally obtained evidence for the trial of a defendant.
Reacting to the judgement, the lead counsel for the defendant, Chief Kanu Agabi said he would accept the verdict of the apex court.
Also reacting, an elder statesman, Chief Dan Ulasi, described the judgement as unfair.
As 2023 draws to an end, all governorship election petitions that had been heard and determined by the court of appeal, have been filed before the apex court for final redress.
Experts are of the hope that all election petitions will be laid to rest in 2024 to give room for judges to attend to other pending litigations that have suffered setbacks.
They also urged all legal stakeholders to work towards ensuring a better judicial system in the country.
Writing by Ifeoma Nwovu; editing by Hadiza Abdulrahman and Annabel Nwachukwu
