Interpretation Of Supreme Court Judgment: Falana Dares Wike

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has dared Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over a Supreme Court judgment.

Wike had picked holes over Falana’s analysis of the judgment of the apex court in the festering Rivers political crisis, and he is daring the ex-governor to report him to the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee.

The legal luminary’s stance was contained in a statement on Sunday, titled “I Did Not Lie Against the Supreme Court of Nigeria”.

Falana held that there was no misrepresentation in his view of the Supreme Court Judgment on the defection of 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

He thus described the assertions of the FCT minister  as “spurious and tendentious in every material particular”.

Wike, had, at a press conference criticised Falana for allegedly misrepresenting the Supreme Court ruling.

“If someone of Femi Falana’s calibre can go on national television and lie, it’s very serious. Lies can cause a lot of crises”, Wike had reportedly stated.

In his counter Falana stated: “Mr. Wike subjected me to another scurrilous attack in a press conference, where he alleged that I lied about the defection status of certain legislators during my appearance on Channels TV.

“I did not lie against the Supreme Court in respect of the judgment in question. All I said was that the matter of the defection of the 27 legislators was raised suo motu and determined by the eminent Justices of the apex court”, Falana said

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According to the learned and respected lawyer, his right to criticise court judgments is protected by both the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights law.

“My fundamental right to criticise the decisions of courts is guaranteed by Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

“Unlike Mr. Wike, who calls judges names whenever they disagree with his politics of opportunism, I have always criticised the judgments of domestic and regional courts with utmost decorum and in good faith.”

Falana not only referenced a famous statement by the late Justice Oputa in the Adegoke Motors Limited v. Dr. Babatunde Adesanya case: “We are final not because we are infallible; rather, we are infallible because we are final,” , he also quoted former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad thus:

“You have the responsibility of drawing our attention to where things are going wrong or on the verge of going wrong.”

Falana then referred to Wike, saying: “Since he has become the unsolicited defender of the judiciary, I challenge him to report me to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for professional misconduct”.

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On the issue of legislative defection, Falana warned that the Supreme Court’s recent stance—requiring proof of defection through a party’s membership register—could embolden “unpatriotic politicians to justify political prostitution in Nigeria.”

He urged the court to adhere to its earlier rulings, such as in Attorney-General of the Federation v. Abubakar and Abegunde v. Ondo State House of Assembly, where it ruled that legislators who defect automatically lose their seats.

“It is indubitably clear that the allegation leveled against me by Mr. Wike is spurious… He has failed in his desperate bid to incite the Justices of the Supreme Court against me without any basis whatsoever.”