Supreme Court’s Open-ended Judgment on PDP

After the Supreme Court delivered judgment on the disputes that have torn the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) apart, not a few Nigerians again wondered why it is only in Nigeria that the court will deliver judgment and both parties would be rejoicing.

Irreconcilable crises had divided the party into two – Tanimu Turaki and Nyesom Wike factions – and when the case was reserved for judgment, almost everybody held their breath, anxiously waiting.

But when it was eventually delivered, it left everybody confused with both parties claiming victory.

Wike’s faction refused to accept the dismissal of its cross-appeal on Samuel Anyanwu’s expulsion.

Today, both factions are claiming victory with nobody knowing which of the two is authentic. 

This was exactly what happened recently when the apex court delivered judgment in the suit filed by the Osun State government against the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice over the withholding of the allocations due to local governments in the state.

The state government had urged the Supreme Court to compel the federal government to release all the seized funds due to the local governments.

In a split decision of six justices to one, the court struck out the suit, saying the Osun State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice had no legal right to have instituted the case on behalf of the 30 local governments in the state.

It held that those who won the local government election and were inaugurated were the right persons who can sue and be sued directly.

Justice Mohammed Idris, who read the lead judgment, held that the federal government was wrong in withholding the local government fund, adding that the action was in breach of the 1999 Constitution.

The court ruled that the federal government improperly seized the funds and urged it to ensure that the funds were directly allocated to the local government accounts.

After saying all these, the court went on to strike out the suit.

This made both parties to be jubilating and claiming victory, and till date, not only are the allocations still being withheld, judgement made mockery of the purpose of going to court.

This has been the pattern lately. Even the lower courts have followed has followed the step,

This has made everybody to ask why can’t the courts deliver judgments in a simply language for all to understand, and stop creating confusion everywhere?