Henry Duru
14 November 2009
As stakeholders discuss the implication of yesterday's judgment by Court of Appeal dismissing the suit by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in 2007 in Anambra State, Dr. Andy Uba, lawyers who are in the habit of abusing court process by accepting to handle frivolous cases merely because of the money they will get from their clients have come under attacks.
Leading the condemnation is legal luminary, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), who in an exclusive interview with Saturday Champion, said the actions of such lawyers leave much to be desired.
Sagay's condemnation comes on the heels of comments by the Supreme Court while dismissing an application by former Governor Celestine Omehia of Rivers State urging the court to set aside its October 25, 2007 judgment, which installed Rotimi Amechi as the governor.
The court, in describing the application as futile, said rather sarcastically that if anybody was aggrieved by the court's decision, the person should appeal to God as no other court on earth could entertain any appeal from the Supreme Court's judgment.
Backing the Supreme Court's position, Sagay insisted that no court, including the Supreme Court itself, can sit on appeal of the apex court's judgment. He decried a situation where lawyers accept briefs without discrimination, simply to collect money from their clients, describing such as going contrary to the dignity of the judicial process.
"It is indeed contrary to the ethics of the profession. It amounts to a serious error for lawyers to prefer money to abiding by the rules that guide proper conduct in the bar.
"To keep on going back to the Supreme Court after it has decided on an issue brings mockery on the judicial system. Lawyers who accept such briefs are bringing down the dignity of both the court and the bar," he said.
The jurist observed that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) could, through its internal disciplinary mechanism, call such erring members to order. He equally said that the courts themselves could also discourage such lawyers by taking them up on their misconducts as they (the courts) have done in the recent cases.
Similarly, another Lagos lawyer, Fred Agbaje, said he is totally in support of the Supreme Court's position that lawyers who approach the court with such questionable suits are abusing the justice delivery process.
"The Supreme Court has said it all and so I cannot add to or subtract from it," he told Saturday Champion.
He further cautioned lawyers to be more patriotic in their profession by seeking to consolidate the rule of law rather than undermining it.
He said, "It is high time lawyers began to mind the kind of cases they take to Supreme Court. They should refrain from bringing suits that will embarrass the court but rather bring those that will help consolidate the rule of law.
"They should stop bringing back cases which the Supreme Court has already decided. The Supreme Court is already congested, so why are you bringing up more frivolous suits to compound the existing problem? Since the court has already disposed of such cases, we should allow the cases to rest and so give the court space to hear and determine other cases."
It would be recalled that prior to Omehia's case and yesterday's judgment, the apex court had on June 11, 2009, while dismissing for the second time a suit by Uba asking it to reverse its earlier judgment that removed him from office, lashed out at senior lawyers who bring back already decided cases for the court to sit on again.
Speaking through the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Idris Kutigi, the Supreme Court said, "What kind of country is this where Senior Advocates of Nigeria are used to mess up the judiciary? We will not allow this kind of practice. This is wrong. The appellant has been shuttling from one court to another on a matter that the Supreme Court had already delivered judgment on.
"If the Supreme Court makes a mistake, there are procedures of correcting the mistakes.
"I have carefully listened to the submissions and arguments canvassed by counsel to all the parties in this appeal and come to a conclusion that the appeal is a thorough abuse of the court process and I hereby dismiss it.
"It is trite law that there must be an end to litigation. The appeal is accordingly dismissed with N30, 000 cost awarded to each set of the respondents."
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