Buhari’s Executive Order 10, unconstitutional -Awomolo, agbakoba, Hon tell Supreme Court

Some Senior Advocates of Nigeria, namely, Adegboyega Awomolo, Olisa Agbakoba, and Sebastian Hon, on Monday submitted before the Supreme Court that President Muhammadu Buhari’s Executive Order 10, signed in 2020 was unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court had invited the senior lawyers to make legal submissions on the propriety or otherwise of the presidential order, which granted financial autonomy to the judiciary in the 36 States of the Federation.

The SANs addressed the apex court in the matter involving the 36 States of the Federation and the AGF, which was held on Monday.

In his submission, the first amicus curiae (friend of the court), Awomolo, SAN, relied on sections 81(3), 84(4) and (7), as well as Paragraph 21(e) of the Third Schedule to the Constitution, to argue that the Presidential Executive Order 10, 2020, was unconstitutional.

Awomolo posited that the FG is constitutionally mandated to take care of both capital and recurrent expenditures of all the courts established for the federation, i.e, both States and Federal courts.

The legal luminary insisted that the order was similar to the one former President Olusegun Obasanjo made in 2004, which stopped Lagos State from benefiting from the federation account, Chief Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, said both the FG and all the 36 states had in the past 20 years, breached the provisions of the Constitution.

Agbakoba, kicked against the request by the States for a refund of about N66billion they claimed they had so far spent in running courts in their various States.

However, he urged the Supreme Court to uphold the suit by the States, just as he urged the court to restore section 162(9) of the Constitution which he said the court wrongly struck down in a suit involving the Attorney General of Abia state and the AGF.

“I urge my lords to use this case to break the shackles of the judiciary.

“I believe that this is an opportunity for the judiciary to finally set itself free”, Agbakoba said.

Speaking before the apex court Justices, Hon, SAN, supported the suit by the States and urged the apex court to strike down the Presidential Executive Order 10, 2020.

Adetunbi, SAN, on his part, argued that while section 84(7) of the Constitution, mandates FG to pay salaries and emoluments of state courts, he said the Plaintiffs are under section121(3), required to take care of capital expenditures of the courts.

He, therefore, urged the apex court to set aside the Presidential Executive Order 10, and dismiss all other reliefs the Plaintiffs are seeking in the suit.

However, another amicus curiae, Magaji, SAN, disagreed with the Plaintiffs that FG should take care of capital expenditures incurred in the funding of state courts.

He argued that nowhere in the Constitution was it expressly stated that such expenditures should rest on FG’s shoulder.

“I am therefore urging my lords to resist the temptation of imputing into the Constitution, what is not there” Magaji submitted.