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 court orders, 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 in the Newspapers how various security agencies and their minions spurn and treat the orders of the courts with levity….leaving the impression that since the courts have neither the police nor guns nor the army to enforce whatever orders they make they could treat such orders with impunity. Our Constitution vests the enforcement of the orders of the court in appropriate cases in the Executive.
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” Also, in APC V KARFI. (2015) LPELR-41857, WAMBAI, J.C.A., stated as follows: ”Disobedience to Court orders is a very serious matter which should not be condoned, glossed over or treated with kids glove but must be seriously frowned at and appropriately handled before it erodes the very foundation of adjudication and stultify the administration of justice. When we allow the very foundation of adjudication to be eroded with disdain then we should be ready to say “good bye” to Rule of Law, peace and Orderliness and welcome to “anarchy”, and “chaos”, and the whole society suffers for it.”(pp.45-46,paras D-B).
The decision of the government to continue to detain Sowore after he has been granted bail by a competent Court amounts to great danger.
The move to appeal the ruling has no effect on the enforcement of the court’s order. It will be an exercise in futility as it has been held that the liberty of a citizen cannot be stayed.
I call on President Buhari to obey the Order to release Sowore.
O.G. Ogbom, Esq. LL.B, LL.M, is a Port Harcourt based lawyer.
