A state of affairs in which the Executive that is headed by someone who swore an oath, that is, made a covenant with the people and God that he would respect and obey the constitution, and which includes total and unwatered obedience of the orders of the court, turns round to mock the constitution by refusing to be faithful to certain court orders except on “compassionate ground”, or indulging in cheap tactics or being begged by the same people to obey the order of the court is indeed a respice for denouement, desecrating, denouncing and dethroning the rule of law, and an onward march towards anarchy.

I feel troubled, and I tremble whenever I read on social media how various security agencies and their minions spurn and treat the orders of certain courts with levity but recklessly or without delay, implements orders of Code of Conduct Tribunal that are in its favour, leaving the impression that since those other courts have neither the police nor guns nor the army to enforce whatever orders they make they could treat such orders with impunity.

Recently, in his response to Femi Falana, SAN’s letter, the AGF, Malami, in his usual interpretation of our laws, has stated that the Executive arm enjoys certain rights, that these rights extend to rulings on bail and right to seek to vary terms of bail, among others, saying in any circumstance where this right is waived by the prosecution, it can only be for valid reasons, including compassion. The AGF did not state whether the right to appeal or to vary terms of bail automatically acts as a stay of execution or “stay of compassion”.

Again, one wonders if the right to appeal which the FG interprets as a stay, is available only to the federal government or does not extend to the rulings or judgements of the Code of Conduct Tribunal?

Just recently, The Federal government in compliance with the exparte order of the code of conduct Tribunal, replaced the embattled Azuka Azinge with Saratu Shafii hours after the order was made without any recourse to her right of appeal as put forward by the AGF.

The FG can not continue to pick and choose, which favourable orders to obey or who to release on compassionate ground. It is troubling that the federal government invents all kind of reasons not based on any known law to justify a clear disdain for certain court oOrders.

In GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE V. ODUMEGWU-OJUKWU (1986) 1 NWLR (Pt. 18) 621 at 633, the Supreme court came down heavily, when Kayode Eso, JSC, stated unequivocally:

“I think it is a very serious matter for anyone to flout a positive order of Court ….. It is more serious when the act of flouting the order of Court, the contempt of Court, is by the Executive. …I think… for the Executive, which holds the physical powers, to put up itself in sabotage or deliberate contempt of the order is to stage an executive subversion of the Constitution it is to uphold”

When we allow the very foundation of adjudication to be eroded with disdain then we should be ready to say goodbye to Rule of Law, Peace, and Orderliness and welcome to anarchy, and chaos, and the whole society suffers for it.

The federal government should apply the same force it uses to enforce Code of Conduct Tribunal orders to other pending orders of court not in its favour without compassion.

O.G. Ogbom, Esq. LL.B, LL.M, is a Port Harcourt based lawyer. A partner at Law Freight Attorneys., [email protected]