Research Paper: An Overview of the Apex Court in Nigeria

Established on the 1st October 1963, the Supreme Court stands head and neck above as the highest in the hierarchy of federal Courts in Nigeria, adjudicating on crucial top tier cases of immense national relevance, such that inversely or directly affect the society.

Chapter 7, Part 1 of the Nigerian Constitution states extensively in details the processes, criteria, qualifications, and functionalities involved in the appointment and powers available to the judges of the Federal Courts of Nigeria, and the general structure of these court in which they administer Justice.

The appointment of Justices is addressed in Section 230 and 231, as the number of Justices in the Supreme Court are not to exceed 21. Currently, the Supreme Court consists of The Chief Justice and 19 other justices. These Justices are appointed upon the recommendation of the National Judicial Council to the president, and the final confirmation made by the Senate. It also emphasizes the need of experience, as any candidate to be considered for the role of Justice of the Supreme Court, or Chief Justice of Nigeria must have had nothing less than 15 years of active legal practices.

This part of the Nigerian Constitution also grants the power to adjudicate and rule in cases between the Federation and the state, or between a state and another state, solely to the Supreme Court. As it says in Section 232 (1):

This implies that this power is only made available to the Supreme Court, as all other courts under it cannot exercise that authority.

The Supreme Court has also been given exclusive power by the Constitution to hear and determine outcome of appeals from the Court of Appeal, be it civil or criminal proceedings, and to make decisions in the advent of circumstances in which a person has been sentenced to death or to a time in prison, the Supreme Court has the exclusive right to uphold or overturn such decisions.

Section 233 also emphatically grants exclusive power to the Supreme Court to decide the validity of the election of any government official or Office holder, from the president, to the Speaker of the House and every other post under such. This authority is not available to any court beneath the Supreme Court of Nigeria. That being said implies that any appeal from the Court of Appeal shall be heard and adjudicated on only by the Supreme Court, as they are the only recognized court with the power to rule in such cases.

The Supreme Court is therefore empowered by the Constitution to determine:

I. Whether any person has been validly elected to the office of President or vice president under the Constitution

II. Whether the term of the office of the President has ceased

III. Whether the seat of the President or the vice president has become vacant

This part of the Constitution also accords the right of Appeal. In the instance of appealing the decision made by the Court of Appeal, the right to appeal a civil case is embedded on any individual interested in taking up the case, while in the instance of a criminal case, the right to appeal is available only to the accused person, as the Supreme Court therefore becomes the final ground of judgment or vindication as the case maybe. It also gives differentiation to proceedings in jurisdiction, in the sense that the regular court sitting of the Supreme Court must be resided on by not less than 5 justices, but in the circumstances of an election petition, or political basis, seven justices are to reside on that particular case.

The Chief Justice is also allocated the duty of creating rules or stipulations that guide the proceedings of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and indirectly regulate the conduct of all courts under it as seen in Section 236. These rules are unequivocally binding and are applicable in every legal system under the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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