Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has raised concerns about the current protocol order in Nigeria, which places the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Vice President above the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
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In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle today,, Okutepa argued that this arrangement is not in line with the Nigerian constitution and undermines the importance of the judiciary.
Okutepa pointed out that the constitution clearly establishes three arms of government: the legislative arm in Section 4, the executive arm in Section 5, and the judicial arm in Section 6. He emphasized that the constitution is supreme and that all other laws must be traceable to it.
“By constitutional arrangements, there are three arms of government,” Okutepa stated. “The legislative arm of government is created by section 4 of the constitution. The executive arm is created by section 5 of the constitution, and then the judicial arm is created by section 6 of the constitution.”
The constitutional expert argued that the President should head the executive branch, the President of the Senate should lead the legislative arm, and the CJN should be the head of the judiciary. He questioned why the Vice President is considered the number two citizen and the Speaker of the House of Representatives the number four, while the CJN is relegated to the fifth position.
Okutepa also challenged the notion that the House of Representatives is equal to or superior to the Senate, stating that the constitution did not create them as such. He emphasized that Nigeria has a bicameral parliament, with the Senate being the upper chamber of the National Assembly.
The SAN called for a return to the “logical arrangements of the constitution” and for greater respect to be shown to the office of the CJN as the number three citizen of Nigeria. He also criticized the elevation of the spouses of top government officials above the CJN and state Chief Judges, describing it as a “gross violation of the constitutional arrangements.”
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