Inclusion of Late Justice Umezulike’s Name In Executive Order No. 6: The Legal Questions By Ekemini Udim

Presidential Executive Order No.6 of 2018 and called for the immediate implementation of same by the security agencies working under the direct supervision of the Attorney General of the Federation. The Order is made of six sections with two Schedules. While the First Schedule is a ‘List of Cases to be IMMEDIATELY Affected by the Executive Order’, the Second Schedule is a List of the Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria to assist in the implementation of the Order. EFCC is number on that list. Interestingly, there are 154 cases listed in the First Schedule. These are live cases currently going on in courts across the federation of Nigeria and the suit numbers, names of the parties and the courts where they have been carefully stated in the schedule to the Order. Whether mention of these cases in the Schedule does not amount to interference with the judicial process (in view of the fact that case are sub judice), is a question to be answered in the coming days by the best legal minds in Nigeria. I shall therefore not venture to discuss that in this paper. My concern is the inclusion of the name of the Late Honourable Justice Innocent Azubike Umezulike in the First Schedule to the Order as one of the persons to be ‘immediately affected’ by the Order. His name is listed as N0. 123 in the schedule as a matter pending in Enugu High Court with Suit No. EHC/74C/2017. It would be recalled that the late learned jurist (who was the immediate past Chief Judge of Enugu State of Nigeria) recently passed on in a London hospital and same was widely reported in print and electronic media across the globe. What I mean is that, My Lord is no more alive as we read this article and had died, weeks before the signing of the Executive Order. In law, a criminal matter dies with the accused person if the accused person dies before the conclusion of the matter. This is because, under the Nigerian law, criminal liability is personal and not transferable. The case dies if the man dies! The first legal question here is, how come that the President signed an Executive Order and made same immediately operational with the name of a dead person included in the said Order? Can the Executive Order be construed to give life to an otherwise dead case? Can the late learned jurist continue to stand trial? If yes, from where? Can this very case with the suit number stated in the Order still be called or mentioned in court? What will the defence counsel tell the court? That he is appearing for who? It’s been said that there is a crack team of legal practitioners who thoroughly proof read documents and bills before the President appends his signature. The Attorney General of the Federation and the Vice President are in this crack team. Permit me to ask: did they also proof read this Order? If yes, permit me to also ask: what is the legal explanation for inclusion of the name of Late Justice Umezulike in Schedule One as one of the persons to be ‘immediately’ affected by the Presidential Executive Order No. 6? My name is Ekemini Udim. I am a legal practitioner in search of more legal knowledge. I am reachable on: ekeminiudimforjustice@gmail.com]]>