Political analyst, Olukayode Salako today reacted to the flipflop which Nigeria’s judicial process has recently become. This is due to the array of judgments and counter-judgments from various courts of competent jurisdictions of the land in recent times, TheMediaGood can report.
His reaction shared widely on social media reveals, ‘I feel the National Assembly, should immediately pass a law, that would instruct Nigerian courts to establish a public communication department, which would be speaking to the Nigerian public on the interpretation of court judgments in Nigeria, immediately the certified true copies of such judgments are released to the litigants.’
‘The courts itself should let the Nigerian public hear what the true interpretation of the judgments of the courts say, to avoid misinterpretation and disobedience of those judgments, and let Nigerian people know who is in favor of the judgments and who is not.’
‘Every court should have a spokesperson, who would, after the judgment has been delivered by the courts, communicate what the content is all about to the public. Immediately the courts tell the public the contents of the judgments, especially on political matters, then the police, by law, would immediately step in to make sure that they are obeyed and executed. By that, the incidence of controversial and conflicting implementations of court judgments, would stop, and whoever the judgments favour can go ahead to have his judgments in accordance to the law of the land as validated by the courts. Once the spokesdepartments of the courts, come out to read out what the content of any court judgment is all about, then it would stop the people concerned from misinterpreting it in their own favour and would expressly put a stop to the flagrant and impunitive disobedience of courts judgments in Nigeria.’
‘However, immediately the courts say this is what the judgment is all about, the Nigerian police would then step in, to make sure the judgement is implemented, executed and obeyed to the letter. That is the way I feel about it.’
The former Chairman of Labour Party in Lagos state, Salako added: ‘Let Nigeria have a system, where the courts can be publicly telling Nigerians what the contents of their courts judgments are really all about. By then, there would be sanity in the system. And once one court, gives a judgment on a matter, if anybody runs to another court to get a counter, or conflicting judgment, the Nigeria law should make it null and void. In fact, once the litigants know that, that is the new lawful order in Nigeria, everybody would know that, that is the way it is with the Nigerian system, so people would stop running around different courts of the same jurisdiction to secure counter judgments and order on the same matter. But, with the way things are in Nigeria right now with conflicting court judgments, coming out from different courts of the same coordinate jurisdiction on the same matter, it leaves Nigeria as nothing, but a lawlessly confused and impunitive society.’
‘I feel there should be a law like that, which would make it mandatory for the courts to communicate the interpretation of its own judgments to the litigants and Nigerians publicly, through a press conference, so that it could always make the contents of its judgments, strictly a subject of absolute implementation and obedience, by the Nigerian police, or any other department of the Nigerian security authority so empowered to do so.’
Mr. Salako concluded: ‘With this, the high incidence of conflicting judgments; controversial implementation and disobedience of court orders, would stop in Nigeria. Once the court says this is the judgment, and it is expressly communicated to the public, then it is bound to be obeyed, until may be, there is a judgment from another higher court, especially on political matters, which must still be communicated by the same spokesdepartment.’