Refusal to Enforce Court Order Concerning Service Chiefs: Festus Keyamo Writes Jonathan, David Mark, Tambuwal

President Goodluck Jonathan decorating one of the service chiefs recently

Public interest legal campaigner Festus Keyamo has written to President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President David Mark and Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal to reaffirm the imperative of respect for the rule of law as the foundation of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.

In a letter addressed to the three officials today, he recalled a Federal High Court judgment he obtained in July 2013, delivered by the Honourable Justice A. Bello, to the effect that the appointments of all the current Service Chiefs are null and void as they were made without the approval of both Houses of the National Assembly as provided for by the law.  

In his judgment, Justice Bello declared the appointments of Lt-General Azubuike Ihejirika (Chief of Army Staff); Air Vice-Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh (Chief of the Air Staff); and Rear Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba (Chief of Naval Staff), null and void ab initio.

Mr. Keyamo noted that up till now, no appeal has been filed against that judgment.  Reminding recipients of the letter that Nigeria’s is “a constitutional democracy founded on the rule of law and not the rule of force,” he stressed that the real intent of Section 18 of the Armed Forces Act is to subject the Armed Forces to civil authority.

“It is also pertinent to observe that neither the President nor the Service Chiefs are constitutionally superior to the National Assembly,” he noted.  “As a result, the appointments of Service Chiefs, which are political appointments, cannot be different from other political appointments that require the confirmation of the National Assembly, e.g the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Ministers of the Federation and Ambassadors. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE NIGERIANS THE IMPRESSION THAT THE MILITARY IS STILL ABOVE THE LAW.”

Mr. Keyamo pointed out that the most embarrassing of the entire scenario is that the National Assembly, the custodians of the power of confirmation, despite having folded its arms while he, a private citizen, proceeded to court to give life to its constitutional powers, has refused to do anything to comply with the judgment even after a court of law clearly gave life to that power.
“It is sad for our democracy,” he declared.

He pointed out that as a consequence of the court decision, all official actions taken by the Service Chiefs since Judge Bello’s judgement in July 2013, are null, void and of no effect in the eyes of the law and only needs someone who is affected by their official actions to challenge their authority in court.

Calling for compliance with the law, Mr. Keyamo warned that he would return to court in two weeks “as a patriot and free citizen of this country,” if President Jonathan, Mr. Mark and Mr. Tambuwal fail to act in compliance with court judgments, obedience to and respect for the rule of law.
The letter was copied to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Federation.