“Too Little, Too Late”, Okorie Accuses Supreme Court Of Enabling Defections, Faults NJC For Mild Sanction On Judges

Dr. Chekwas Okorie, founding National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), has expressed strong dissatisfaction with the recent disciplinary measures imposed by the National Judicial Council (NJC), describing them as “too little, too late.”

Last Wednesday, the NJC announced a one-year suspension without pay for three judges; Justice Jane Inyang of the Court of Appeal, Uyo Division; Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja; and Justice Aminu Baffa Aliyu of the Federal High Court, Zamfara Division, over misconduct.

The Council’s Deputy Director of Information, Kemi Ogedengbe, made the announcement in an official statement.

However, Okorie, speaking with newsmen, said the NJC’s action failed to address deeper issues plaguing Nigeria’s judiciary, particularly those originating from the Supreme Court.

He criticized the apex court’s judgment on the defection of 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, calling it a glaring example of judicial failure.

“The Supreme Court said that there was no evidence to show that people who decamped from their party, PDP to APC in Rivers publicly, filed an affidavit in court, which everybody saw on video, and they were proud of it.”

“When the implication dawned on them, they said they didn’t decamp anymore. And the Supreme Court said there was no evidence before it to prove that they decamped. What is the effect of that?” he asked.

Okorie noted that this controversial ruling has had a ripple effect, emboldening similar political maneuvers in other states.

“The effect of that bad judgment is what has just happened recently in Delta State because the Supreme Court can always say there is no evidence that they should surrender their seats,” he remarked.

He continued, “When there is even for an illiterate, who can barely read, and we can see it written in the Constitution that outside of the Governor, President, Vice President and Deputy Governor, every other elected person loses his seat mandatorily upon changing camp.”

Lamenting what he sees as judicial tolerance of unethical political behavior, Okorie pointed to the cases of notable figures like Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and Pastor Umo Eno, suggesting they were emboldened to consider abandoning the parties that brought them into office.

“Even when Rochas (Okorocha) dumped APGA, all of them keep saying that the political party is simply a vehicle to move from one point to another. Who defined a political party like that? Where did they get that definition?” he queried.

Okorie argued that such legal interpretations are harming Nigeria’s democratic system.

“So, it is the legal system we are running and the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land, that has foisted this major setback to our efforts to have a proper and progressive democratic system,” he said.

He concluded by condemning what he described as the judicial endorsement of “procedural manipulation,” warning that it undermines public trust.

“Judicial endorsement of procedural manipulation exposes Nigerians as people who do not know who is good and who is bad. They know and they vote for the good ones, but they give them the bad ones. And you go to the court and mess it up.”