CENTER FOR CITIZENSHIP CONSTITUTIONAL AND ELECTORAL SYSTEMS LBG ("CenCES") vs THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL & ORS

TANKO AMADU JSC:-

INTRODUCTION

1.My Lords, Chapter Eleven of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic provides an elaborate framework for the judiciary under Articles 125 to 161. Inherent in the provisions of the Articles is the security of tenure of Justices of the Superior Courts of Judicature and the independence of the judiciary. However construed, those provisions are not intended for the comfort of the justices who constitute the judiciary, but their security of tenure. The provisions are also intended for the protection of the people, the governed in whom the sovereignty of the State resides and on whose behalf the judiciary administers justice.

2.Implicit in the provisions is also a solemn covenant that, the judiciary will adjudicate without fear or favour to all persons, it being the people's ultimate guarantee that the law, and not the will of the public office holder ultimately governs the Republic. It is therefore a matter of the gravest moment for the citizenry and the judiciary, when the head of the judiciary is drawn into a constitutional process for removal from office and for this court to be invited to pronounce on the validity of that process. The two consolidated actions herein present precisely that occasion.

3.The Plaintiff in Writ No.JI/20/2025, the Centre for Citizenship, Constitutional and Electoral Systems LBG ("CenCES") is a body corporate that sues as a citizen under Article 2(1) of the Constitution and shall be referred to simply as the First Plaintiff. The Plaintiff in Writ No.JI/22/2025 was until her removal, the Chief Justice of the Republic and head of the Judiciary pursuant to Article 125(1) of the 1992 Constitution. It is the procedure by which the provisions of Article 146 of the Constitution was invoked, given effect to, and eventually resulting in her removal which is central to the issues for our determination. The effect is that, if this court finds favour with the respective declaratory reliefs sought in either or both actions, then pursuant to Article 2(2) of the Constitution, this court is empowered to make "such orders and give such directions as it may consider appropriate ......"

4.This consolidated action before us has arisen from a single sequence of events: the receipt by His Excellency the President of the Republic of three petitions seeking the removal of the Chief Justice; the announcement on 22nd April 2025 that, following consultation with the Council of State, a prima