The leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday after the Supreme Court restored the Senator David Mark led National Working Committee (NWC).
The apex court also set aside the status quo ante bellum that has unsettled the opposition party after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) derecognised its leadership.
The Supreme court held that although courts possess inherent powers to make preservative orders to protect the subject matter of litigation, such orders cannot survive once proceedings have been “fully, conclusively and finally concluded.”
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Garba explained that the trial court’s directive maintaining the status quo ante bellum was essentially a preservative order intended to prevent parties from taking steps capable of foisting a fait accompli on the court while proceedings were ongoing.
He noted that once proceedings have been “fully, faithfully, conclusively and finally concluded,” there would be “nothing left for that court to preserve.”
The apex court also addressed the competence of the appeal filed in the matter and the constitutional basis relied upon by the appellants.
Justice Garba held that Section 241(1)(f)(ii) of the 1999 Constitution, which provides for appeals as of right in certain interlocutory decisions relating to injunctions, did not apply in the circumstances of the case.
The justice stressed that obtaining leave in such circumstances was a “condition precedent” to the validity and competence of the appeal.
He added that the competence of a notice of appeal goes to the jurisdiction of the court and once defective, the entire appeal becomes incompetent.
The Supreme court examined the propriety of the preservative orders made by the lower courts and eventually held that sustaining the status quo ante bellum after the relevant proceedings had ended was unnecessary and legally unsustainable.