Chief Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, SAN, a distinguished Bencher, has raised alarm over the growing crisis of conflicting court judgments in Nigeria, warning that the trend undermines the judiciary’s credibility, erodes public trust, and fuels bad governance. Delivering a paper titled “Conflicting Decisions of Courts in Nigeria” at the 2025 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Owerri Branch Law Week on May 22, 2025, Okutepa attributed the issue to judicial timidity, political interference, and corruption, urging urgent reforms to restore judicial integrity.
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Okutepa highlighted that the Nigerian judiciary is plagued by contradictory judgments and orders, particularly in election petitions, which create confusion for legal practitioners and destabilize governance. He argued that the judiciary’s failure to hold political actors accountable has legitimized electoral fraud and entrenched bad governance. “The judiciary appears to have been captured by the political class, producing orders that defy jurisprudential logic,” he stated, citing instances where courts of coordinate jurisdiction issue conflicting rulings, breaching the principle that such courts should not overrule one another.
The Senior Advocate identified corruption, partisanship, incompetence, and judicial reliance on technicalities as primary causes of conflicting judgments. He criticized the judiciary’s return to “technical justice” in electoral matters, contrary to Supreme Court precedents like Amaechi vs. INEC (2008) and Inakoju vs. Adeleke (2007), which emphasize substantial justice over procedural technicalities. Okutepa noted that conflicting appellate court decisions, especially from different divisions of the Court of Appeal, exacerbate the crisis, with some Supreme Court rulings also showing inconsistencies, such as in Atiku Abubakar vs. INEC (2020) and Yakubu Murtala vs. INEC (2024).
The paper underscored the advantages of judicial precedents, including certainty, predictability, and equality before the law, but warned that their subversion through inconsistent rulings fosters legal uncertainty and erodes public confidence. Okutepa cited the 2020 Edo State governorship primary case, where conflicting orders from a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt and an Edo State High Court in Ekpoma created public confusion, and the PDP leadership tussle, where divergent Federal High Court rulings in Lagos and Port Harcourt deepened judicial mistrust.
To address the crisis, Okutepa proposed several recommendations. He urged the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal to reconcile conflicting decisions to establish authoritative precedents. He emphasized that the judiciary must avoid partisanship, maintain independence, and uphold integrity-driven adjudication. “Judicial officers must keep a far distance from politicians,” he said, quoting the late Justice Niki Tobi’s warning in Buhari vs. INEC (2008) against judges mingling with political actors. Okutepa also called for merit-based judicial recruitment, free from political or familial influence, to ensure judges are knowledgeable and impartial.
He further advocated for judicial accountability, urging the judiciary to address misconduct and resist executive interference. “The judiciary must not play the ostrich and pretend all is well,” he said, stressing that public criticism of judicial decisions should be heard, not dismissed as subversion. Okutepa concluded that a robust, independent judiciary is essential for good governance and restoring public trust, warning that failure to act could jeopardize Nigeria’s democratic foundations.
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