Supreme Court deserves commendation by voiding Executive Order 10
The Supreme Court Friday nullified Executive Order 10 put in place by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2020, granting financial freedom to the legislature and the judiciary in the 36 states of the country. The order also mandates the accountant-general of the federation to deduct from source amount due to state legislatures and judiciaries from the monthly allocation to each state for states that refuse to grant such autonomy. This should have been the most celebrated invocation of presidential order for the judicial and legislative officials in the country,, but on a parochial pedestal.
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In its ruling, the seven-member panel of Supreme Court judges, in a split-decision of six justices to one, held that the Constitution provides a “clear delineation between the state and federal government.” This is a very precise judgement that seemed unthinkable in a country like Nigeria, Where decisions of court are swayed by political and personal interests. In this case, the justices of the Supreme Court could have favour the president for political reason by allowing the order to stand or the judiciary for personal interest but choose to favour the law. This is because, in its truest sense, the law does not tilt to serve a particular benefit but to provide access to justice, keep everyone safe and protect the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Law are not just made by somebody sitting down in the highest office, it has to go through the National Assembly and through certain procedures before it becomes a law. This is what the experienced justices of the Supreme Court have done, damning the fact that the order would have taken care of their concern which i think has given more believe to Nigerians that the judiciary remains the last hope of the average person.
Unlike in the United States of America where the Constitution of the US provides the president the power to invoke executive order in certain areas, the constitution of Nigeria does not provide the president such powers, it’s alien to our constitution and I think that was the position of the Supreme Court justices who quashed the order 10 by President Mohammadu Buhari.
Autonomy of the law is more important than the independence of the judiciary. Executive order 10 conflicted with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and had to give way.
The matter between the Federal Government and the 36 states of the federation was a constitutional issue and What always distinguishes statutory conflicts from other conflicts will be the structuring of the issues whereby many of the facts which parties (or at least one party) to the dispute might think significant are irrelevant for the purposes of legal resolution as determined by the experienced and most respected justices of the Supreme Court in this matter.
The Supreme Court has validated in this landmark judgement that Constitutional questions should have an appearance of legal objectivity and political neutrality therefore, it is a commendable decision that the Supreme Court nullified the executive order 10 by the president. This is a judgement from a desiccated juridical knowledge of the Nigeria’s top jurists. Allowing this to have scaled through the walls of the Apex Court would have spelled doom for the country because time after time, it would make such orders in favour of certain interests irrespective of the injury to our constitution to have their ways.
This post is limited to my knowledge of law and i write this as a student of laws and your legal (not political or emotional) opinion will be helpful to me.
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