Obono-Obla Writes Back Supreme Court On Details Of Pending Cases

Tuesday 12th September, 2017 replied the Supreme Court of Nigeria, on the pending cases. The Senior Special Assistant detailed the cases he has pending before the Court of Appeal and the Supreme court. TheNigerialawyer recalls that the Supreme Court court had on 7th September, 2017 wrote a letter to the presidential aide to forward his cases both in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court which have not been listed for hearing, following a statement he had released on the rot in the Nigerian judicial system. Below is the full text on the reply by Obono-Obla. 12th September, 2017 The Chief Registrar Supreme Court of Nigeria Three Arms Zone Aso, Abuja. ATTENTION: HADIZATU U. MUSTAPHA (MRS.) Dear Madam, RE: CORRRUPTION, INEFFICIENCY KILLING JUDICIARY   I am in receipt of your letter dated the 7th September, 2017 in which you requested me to send you a list of appeals filed by me which have not been heard over the years. Before I give details and particulars of the appeals I was handling, which Appeals are still pending and now being handled by my then Firm, before I took my leave of absence to take up my Political Appointment first as Special Assistant to the Minister of Justice and Federal Attorney-General of the Federation in November, 2015, and then as Senior Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution in February, 2016, I would like it on record that the statement credited to me about the inefficiency and corrupt practices prevalent in the Registry of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in Nigeria is not calculated to bring ridicule to the Judiciary or our esteemed Legal Profession, but to make it better than it currently is. It is therefore not all about my appeals pending before these Appellate Courts alone, but about the generality of appeals filed by litigants in these Appellate Courts, which appeals are by omissions or commissions, become bogged down by the inefficiencies and outright corrupt practices I have identified. The Registries of the Appellate Courts have failed to map out strategies that will ensure the efficient disposal of Appeals which are ripe for hearing. It has rather become a lucrative business for some judicial staff to exploit the situation to their benefit by listing only appeals of Legal Practitioners/Litigants who can make monetary or other pecuniary gifts to them to ensure their Appellate files are brought out from the archives and listed for hearing. This over time has become the silent norm, which if unchecked, will have dangerous consequences. In compliance with your request, I hereby enumerate below, these appeals, thus: 1. SC. 220/2009 – CHIEF OBONO EGOM & 7 ORS. VS. ENO OMINI ENO & ANOR: · NOTICE OF APPEAL filed on 1st June, 2006 · APPELLANTS BRIEF filed on 6th August, 2009 · RESPONDENTS’ BRIEF filed on 30th November, 2009 · APPELLANTS’ REPLY BRIEF filed on 29th January, 2010 REMARKS: CHIEF OBONO-OBLA REPRESENTED THE APPELLANTS IN THIS APPEAL; RECORDS TRANSMITTED; BRIEFS SETTLED YET NO DATE FOR HEARING SINCE 2010 (7 YEARS NOW). 2. SC. 93/2008 – CHIEF AKINWUNMI RICKETTS VS. CROSS RIVER PROPERTY & INVESTMENT LTD & ANOR: · NOTICE OF APPEAL filed on 28TH September, 2007 · APPELLANT’S BREF filed on 1st July, 2008 · RESPONDENTS’ BRIEF filed on 25th August, 2008 · APPELLANT’S REPLY BRIEF filed on 28th January, 2009 REMARKS: CHIEF OBONO-OBLA REPRESENTED THE APPELLANT. RECORDS HAVE BEEN TRANSMITTED; BRIEFS SETTLED. NO DATE HAS BEEN GIVEN FOR HEARING SINCE 2009, (8 YEARS NOW). 3. SC. 290/2008 – INSPECTOR GABRIEL, COMMISSIONER OF POLICE MONITORING UNIT, LAGOS VS. EVANGELIST MRS. HELEN UKPABIO & 3 ORS. · NOTICE OF APPEAL filed on 11th May, 2007 · APPELLANT’S BRIEF filed on 29th January, 2008 · 2nd, 3rd & 4th RESPONDENTS’ BRIEF filed on 28th January, 2009 REMARKS: CHIEF OBONO-OBLA REPRESENTED THE 2ND, 3RD & 4TH RESPONDENTS AND LAST FILED HIS AMENDED 2ND, 3RD AND 4TH RESPONDENTS’ BRIEF ON 28/1/2009. RECORDS HAVE BEEN TRANSMITTED AND BRIEFS SETTLED. IT IS NOW 8 YEARS SINCE THE APPEAL BECAME RIPE FOR HEARING. NO DATE FOR HEARING. 4. SC. 224/2009 – DR. MATTHIAS OKO OFFOBOCHE VS. CLETUS CLAY (OKO) OFFOBOCHE: · NOTICE OF APPEAL filed on 1st January, 2006 · APPELLANT’S BRIEF filed on 15th October, 2010 · RESPONDENT TO THIS DAY NEVER FILED ANY BRIEF REMARKS: CHIEF OBONO-OBLA REPRESENTED THE APPELLANT IN THIS CASE. NO DATE WAS GIVEN FOR HEARING SINCE 2010 UNTIL THE APPELLANT DIED IN 2015. 5. SC. 117/2010 – OKOI OBONO-OBLA VS. FEDERAL ROAD SAFETY COMMISSION: · NOTICE OF APPEAL filed on 23rd February, 2010 · APPELLANT’S BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 4th June, 2011 · RESPONDENTS’ BRIEF filed on 9th February, 2012 · APPELLANT’S REPLY BRIEF filed on 7th March, 2012 REMARKS: CHIEF OBONO-OBLA IS REPRESENTED BY J. O. OBONO-OBLA (MRS.) IN THIS APPEAL. RECORDS HAVE BEEN TRANSMITTED AND BRIEFS SETTLED. 5 YEARS ON AND YET NO DATE FOR HEARING. 6. SC.720/2013 – GARBA MOHAMMED GADI VS. THE SPEAKER, BAUCHI STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY & 14 ORS: · NOTICE OF APPEAL filed on 22ND  October, 2013 · APPELLANT’S BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 7th August, 2015 · 7th & 15th RESPONDENTS’ BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on …/09/2015. REMARKS: CHIEF OBONO-OBLA BEGAN THE APPEAL WHICH WAS CONTINUED BY J. O. OBONO-OBLA (MRS.). RECORDS HAVE BEEN TRANSMITTED AND BRIEFS SETTLED. ON THE LAST DATE THE APPEAL CAME UP FOR HEARING, EVEN WHEN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT MOST OF THE RESPONDENTS WERE NOT INTERESTED IN FILING THEIR BRIEFS AND HAVE NOT ENTERED ANY APEARANCE IN THE APPEAL, THERE WAS AN ORDER BY THE COURT ON 18TH MAY, 2017 THAT THE SAID RESPONDENTS SHOULD BE SERVED WITH HEARING NOTICES OR HAVE THEIR NAMES STRUCKOUT OF THE APPEAL AND THE CASE ADJOURNED TO 16TH JANUARY, 2018. SADLY, THE APPELLANT DID NOT LIVE UP TO 16TH JANUARY, 2018. THE APPELLANT DIED ON THE 1ST AUGUST, 2017. A LETTER OF DEATH/NOTICE OF DISCONTINUANCE OF THE APPEAL HAS BEEN SERVED ON THE REGISTRY OF THE SUPREME COURT – 9TH AUGUST, 2017. 7. SC. 615/2015 – CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA VS. CHIEF UBANA OBLA & ORS: · NOTICE OF APPEAL filed on 30TH June, 2016 · APPELLANT’S BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 26th September, 2016 · RESPONDENTS’ BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 14th February, 2017 REMARKS: THE RECORD OF APPEAL HAS BEEN TRANSMITTED; BRIEFS SETTLED. THIS IS A GARNISHEE APPEAL IN WHICH JUDGMENT WAS GIVEN AT THE TRIAL COURT SINCE MAY, 2010. JUDGMENT IN RESPECT OF THE GARNISHEE PROCEEDINGS WAS IN FAVOUR OF THE 1ST – 6TH RESPONDENTS. THE APPELLANT APPEALED TO THE COURT OF APPEAL, ABUJA DIVISION AND LOST 19TH APRIL, 2016, AND APPEALED TO THE SUPREME COURT IN JUNE, 2016. GARNISHEE APPEAL IS YET TO BE HEARD. COURT OF APPEAL CASES YET TO BE HEARD:   1. APPEAL NO. CA/PH/767/2013 FROM SUIT NO. FHC/PH/CS/33/2006 – NIGERIAN CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY VS. JUSTINA OKA OBONO-OBLA & ORS:   JUDGMENT IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT PORT HARCOURT DIVISION WAS GIVEN ON 28TH NOVEMBER, 2012, IN FAVOUR OF THE PLAINTIFF WHO IS NOW IST RESPONDENT IN THE APPEAL. · NOTICE OF APPEAL filed on 16th January, 2013 · APPELLANT’S BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 26th February, 2014 · RESPONDENTS’ BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 14th April, 2014 REMARKS: RECORDS HAVE BEEN TRANSMITTED, BRIEFS SETTLED. NO DATE HAS BEEN GIVEN SINCE 2014 FOR HEARING OF THE APPEAL WHICH IS AN EMPLOYMENT RELATED CASE FOR WHICH IT WAS DECLARED THE 1ST RESPONDENT EMPLOYMENT WITH THE APPELLANT HAD A STATUTORY FLAVOUR AND SHOULD BE REINSTATED AND ALL HER AREARS OF SALARIES AND BENEFITS PAID. 3 YEARS NOW SINCE THE APPEAL BECAME RIPE FOR HEARING. 2. CA/A/69/2014 – DR. KEVIN NGWANG GUNME & 7 ORS. VS. AG FEDERATION: · NOTICE OF APPEAL filed on 18TH November, 2013 · APPELLANT’S BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 13th March, 2014 · RESPONDENTS’ BRIEF OF ARGUMENT not filed to this day. REMARKS: RECORDS OF APPEAL TRANSMITTED AND APPELLANTS’ BRIEF FILED. RESPONDENT SERVED BUT TO THIS DAY NO RESPONDENT BRIEF. MOTION ON NOTICE IN PLACE FOR THE APPEAL TO BE HEARD ON APPELLANTS BRIEF ALONE. NO DATE HAS BEEN GIVEN TO HEAR THE APPEAL TO THIS DAY. 3. CA/14/2011 – MACGREGOR ETENG OMINI VS. YAKURR LGA: · RECORDS OF APPEAL TRANSMITTED ON 25/6/2012 · AMENDED NOTICE AND GROUNDS OF APPEAL FILED ON 19/06/2012 · APPELLANT’S BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 3/09/2012 · 2nd & 3rd RESPONDENTS’ BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 9/10/2013 REMARKS: RECORDS OF APPEAL TRANSMITTED AND BRIEFS SETTLED BUT APPEAL YET TO BE HEARD. 4. CA/C/183/2014 – OKORN ONUN ARIKPO VS. ONUN ONUN ARIKPO & ORS: · NOTICE OF APPEAL filed on 12/5/2014 · APPELLANT’S BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 30/6/2014 · RESPONDENTS’ BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 5/8/2014. REMARKS: RECORDS OF APPEAL TRANSMITTED AND BRIEFS SETTLED. APPEAL STILL UNHEARD TO THIS DAY. 5. CA/C/182/2013 – CHIEF UNOH A. UNOH & ORS. VS. NIGERIAN PRISON SERVICE & ANOR. · NOTICE OF APPEAL filed on 6/2/2013 · APPELLANT’S BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 19/07/2013 · 1ST RESPONDENTS’ BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 22/9/2014 · 2ND RESPONDENT’S BRIEF OF ARGUMENT filed on 6/6/2014 REMARKS: RECORDS OF APPEAL TRANSMITTED AND BRIEFS SETTLED. APPEAL NOT HEARD. 6. CA/C/101/2011 – CHIEF DONATUS OFEM IBOR VS. OBOL ONEN DAVID]]>