The decision by President Yar’Adua to nominate Justice Ogebe, the chairman of the presidential election petition tribunal, as a Supreme Court judge, less than a week to the tribunal’s ruling has drawn the ire of the opposition. Will it affect the verdict slated for Tuesday, February 26, 2008? Weekly Trust asks.
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s letter in which he sought the Senate’s confirmation of Justice James Ogenyi Ogebe and Justice Saifullahi Muntaka Coomassie, as Supreme Court justices – promoting them from the Court of Appeal – did not contain much information other than on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, fill the vacancies created by the retirements of former Chief Justice, Alfa Modibbo Salihu Belgore and Justice Umaru Atu Kalgo.
In sending the names of the two for confirmation also, the President said he relied on the powers conferred on him by Section 231(1) of the 1999 constitution in seeking Senate’s endorsement. Justice Ogebe (Benue – North Central) was nominated to replace Justice Belgore who hails from the same zone while Justice Coomassie (Kaduna – North West) was nominated to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Kalgo who is also from the North West geopolitical zone.
The Senate has since forwarded the names of the two to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for confirmation, which may be done either on the day the tribunal will announce its judgement or a day earlier.
While Justice Coomassie passed the verdict that purportedly declared Andy Uba’s election valid, Justice Ogebe is the chairman of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal expected to pass judgement this coming Tuesday (February 26) in the case involving President Yar’Adua (who nominated him), General Muhammadu Buhari, and Atiku Abubakar, candidates of the PDP, ANPP and AC, respectively, in the contentious 2007 presidential elections.
Ogebe, Weekly Trust learnt, could have become a Supreme Court justice at about the same time Justice Katsina-Alu was promoted. But his recommendation was allegedly delayed by Obasanjo because his rulings (like restoring Rashidi Ladoja as Oyo State chief executive against the wish of Obasanjo) were mostly considered unfavorable to the government.
But his elevation at this, naturally, drew criticisms from the camp of the ANPP presidential candidate, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) as well as the civil society organisations, time with some asking the upper legislative chamber to withhold the confirmation of the nominees until the case before the Justice Ogebe led panel is dispensed with.
President Yar’Adua’s decision, political observers say, was exactly the strategy that former President Obasanjo used in 2003 and allegedly influenced the outcome of the 2003 Presidential Elections Tribunal. Two of the justices who wrote the judgment, Justice Oguntade and Justice Francis Tabai, were promoted to the Supreme Court.
Buba Galadima, a leading member of The Buhari Organisation (TBO), said the decision by President Yar’Adua to send the name of Justice Ogebe to the Senate for confirmation as justice of the Supreme Court at this material time, smacks of inducement. Galadima said a similar scenario happened in 2003, under former President Obasanjo.
“In 2003, all the four judges who sat on our case were elevated, or rather rewarded by being appointed justices of the Supreme Court by General Olusegun Obasanjo except the one who came with the minority judgement – he died as a Court of Appeal judge,” he recalled.
He however said, “I am very happy, personally, that they have done that. Now if the judgement goes against the expectation of the people of this country and international observers who monitored the disputed elections, we won’t have to search far to know why. On that ground, I have little problems with what they have done.”
One of Atiku Abubakar’s counsel, Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN), said: “I do not know if Justice James Ogebe has been officially appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court. But if his appointment has been officially announced, I will want to say that Justice James Ogebe is eminently qualified for the appointment, having put in so many years into judicial service. He is a dedicated, honest and straight forward judicial officer.
“And by position, I think he is the third in rank on the Court of Appeal Court bench. But to make him a Justice of the Supreme Court at a time he is handling an election petition involving President Yar’Adua may just be a coincidence. We hope that it is not an attempt to make him depart from the noble course of justice he has been known for,” Ngige said.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed who is the National Publicity Secretary of Atiku’s party, the Action Congress (AC), told Weekly Trust in an exclusive interview that both the Action Congress and its presidential candidate are very optimistic as regards the judgement coming up on Tuesday, February 26, 2008. “But let’s wait for it (the day) to come first. We don’t want to pre-empt what is going to happen,” he told Weekly Trust.
Mohammed said they will make their party’s stance on Justice Ogebe’s promotion soon. He however said that since the electoral act has provisions for appeal in the event any aggrieved party is not satisfied, “If the judgement goes against us, we will appeal. I am sure we will definitely appeal. But at the moment we remain optimistic.”
The CNPP said the move has turned Yar’Adua’s mantra of due process and rule of law upside down. “The promotion of Justice Ogebe at this time is against the rule of law and due process in the face of the fact that there is a case on his table affecting Yar’Adua. There is nothing wrong under the law that prevents the President from allowing Ogebe to dispense with the matter on his table at the Court of Appeal before his being elevated to the Supreme Court,” said Osita Okechukwu, CNPP’s publicity secretary.
Osita went further to say that, “It is bribery by other means. It now places a moral burden on Ogebe to skew the judgment in favour of the man who promoted him. It amounts to undue influence and it is against the rule of natural justice as we are approaching judgment day.”
The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) in an “open letter to the senate,” signed by its chairman, Moshood Erubami, said that it was opposed to Ogebe’s nomination because it was tantamount to bribery by the president and faulted the timing
The group said, “we are not oblivious of the powers conferred on the President by section 23(1) of the 1999 constitution in seeking senators endorsement of the names being forwarded to the hallowed chamber of the Senate but we are worried about the timing, legal implication and the moral burden it carries along with it.
Attempts to reach the Senate Committee Chairman on Judiciary, Senator Umaru Dahiru Tambuwal, as well as the Special Assistant (Communications) to the President, Olusegun Adeniyi, failed.
Ogebe: A judge on trial
James Ogebe is the chairman of a five-member tribunal that concluded its sitting in the petitions submitted before it by General Muhammadu Buhari and former vice president Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidates of the ANPP and AC respectively. The other judges are Justice A. A. Jega, Justice J. A. Fabiyi, Justice Ignatius Igwe Agube and Justice Uwani Abba-Aji.
Justice James Ogenyi Ogebe, an Idoma from Benue state, is said to be an upright personality. All those who spoke on his antecedents as a judge were unanimous on his integrity, even though they maintained that his ability to retain his credibility has now been put on trial with the recent decision by President Yar’Adua to elevate him.
Born on March 22, 1940 at Igumale in Benue State, Ogebe attended Methodist High School, Igumale [1946-53], Benue Middle School, Katsina-Ala [1953-55], Government College, Keffi [1956-62] and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria [1963-67], where he bagged an LL.B. He was called to the bar in 1968 and was the chief judge of Benue State in 1984-87. He has been on the Court of Appeal since 1991.
Among other things, Justice Ogebe headed the commission of inquiry into parastatals in Benue State in 1978-79 and was a member of the Obusa Land Dispute Commission in 1982 as well as the Gboko Main Market Commission in 1987. Last year, he was appointed by the Court of Appeal president to chair the presidential election petitions tribunal.
Now all eyes are on Justice Ogebe and his colleagues in the presidential petition tribunal. If the tribunal judgement goes against President Yar’Adua, the president’s legal team may appeal that Ogebe’s elevation to the Supreme Court means he could no longer decide on cases at the Court of Appeal. If, however, it favours Yar’Adua, he could persuade his new colleagues (justices of the Supreme Court) to uphold it, and in the process justify the fears of the opposition.
But as Atiku’s lawyer, Ngige, said, “the entire country is now watching to see how he handles this election petition vis-�-vis his new appointment. Time will tell and we keep our fingers crossed.”