The Nigeria Democratic Congress senatorial candidate for Ogun Central in the 2023 elections, Rotimi George-Taylor, has criticised the recent Federal High Court ruling that set aside its earlier judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission to register the NDC as a political party, describing the decision as legally flawed.
Speaking during a telephone interview with journalists, George-Taylor argued that a court which has delivered a final judgment becomes functus officio and, except in limited circumstances recognised by law, lacks the jurisdiction to revisit or reverse its own decision.
He explained that such exceptions include the correction of clerical or accidental errors, setting aside judgments obtained through fraud, nullifying decisions delivered without jurisdiction or in breach of fair hearing, or vacating default judgments where permitted by court rules.
According to him, none of those conditions applied in the NDC’s case.
“The court should not reverse its own final judgment simply because another political party or interested party disagrees with the outcome,” he said.
George-Taylor maintained that the NDC’s registration was based on a valid and subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court, adding that INEC had complied with the order by issuing the party a certificate of registration.
He further claimed that, to the party’s knowledge, no appeal or valid court order had stayed or nullified the judgment that led to the registration, insisting that the party’s legal status remains intact.
The NDC chieftain also cited the opinion of a legal practitioner familiar with similar cases, arguing that courts of coordinate jurisdiction cannot sit on appeal over each other’s judgments.
He contended that any party dissatisfied with the ruling should have approached the Court of Appeal rather than seeking to have the same court reverse its final decision.
George-Taylor also questioned the competence of the suit that resulted in the latest judgment, alleging that the claimant was not a registered political party and suggesting that the action ought to have been statute-barred.
Expressing confidence in the appellate process, he said the Court of Appeal would review the matter and correct what he described as errors in the lower court’s decision.
He warned that allowing what he termed “judicial rascality” to persist could erode public confidence in Nigeria’s judicial system.
The Federal High Court had recently set aside its earlier order directing INEC to register the NDC, a development that has sparked fresh legal and political debate over the party’s status.
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