The flagrant disregard and disobedience of the Supreme Court order on the Naira swap policy deadline by President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and the Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) has brought to mind several other instances where the government ignored court orders.
When Buhari assumed office, he reiterated his commitment to compliance with the rule of law by all agencies of government under his administration.
Despite Buhari’s verbal statements, a report by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) in 2022, highlighted that since its inauguration in 2015, Buhari’s administration has disobeyed many court judgments.
Also, rising cases of Contempt of Court against key appointees of the President Buhari administration have been a source of concern.
Giving an insight into the implications of the continued disobedience to court judgments, legal luminaries have at different fora warned that the country stands at a dangerous point if such action is allowed to continue.
Below are some of the instances where the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has erred:
1. Naira Scarcity — Buhari’s administration has come under attack for flouting the interim injunction of the apex court suspending the implementation of the February 10 deadline on the use of the old banknotes.
In the past few days, Nigerians have been groaning under the pain caused by the deadline as they are unable to get the new notes, while the old notes are being sold to them by Point of Sales vendors.
The Supreme Court, however, granted an interim injunction on February 8 restraining the CBN and the Federal Government from implementing the February 10 deadline.
2. In the case of Ibraheem El-Zakzaky
On December 2, 2016, Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the federal high court in Abuja ordered the release of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat from the custody of the Department of State Services.
As of the time of that ruling, El-Zakzaky and his wife had been in DSS’ custody since December 2015 following an altercation between members of the Nigerian Army and the IMN in Zaria, Kaduna State.
Aside from the order of the court to release them, the court also ordered that the DSS should pay the couple the sum of N50m as compensation. This court order was disobeyed.
3. The federal government, in another instance, disobeyed the orders of the Federal High Court in Abuja on the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu’s bail and access by his legal team and family members.
Justice Binta Nyako had to question the Department of State Security, DSS on such disregard at a time, yet the situation remained the same.
The Federal High Court in Abuja also granted Kanu, the permission to apply for an order of mandamus to compel the Department of State Service to allow him to have unfettered access to medical care, but on several occasions, access to health care have been refused.
