IT IS hard for disputants, even the losing party to fault his judgments. The level of intelligence and depth with which he prepares and delivers his judgments are simply ethereal. And when he finishes, you are bound to salute his incisiveness even though you might have lost the case.Justice George Oguntade, who bowed out of the Nigerian apex court last year upon attaining the constitutional mandatory age of 70, is a legend in the temple of justice. His unimpeachable character at the Bench, undoubtedly was to ensure that substantial justice was done in each case before him.He was popularly admired and known as a morally upright judge, an upholder of substantial justice and human rights defender. Distinguished for his intellectual versatility, lucidity of his philosophical mind, hard work and for his astute judgments, Justice Oguntade was clearly a scion of the older stock of retired Supreme Court Justices comprising Justices Kayode Eso, Chukwudifu Oputa, Andrew Obaseki, Augustine Nnamani, Anthony Aniagolu and others who left great marks on the sand of time at the apex court.At a ceremony organised in his honour to mark his retirement in Lagos, many distinguished personalities acknowledged the fact that he was exceptional and said that his exit from the Supreme Court would create depletion in the stock of Justices at the apex Court. And that assertion may be an understatement considering his outstanding performance at the Bench as a jury of distinction. Little wonder that since his retirement, he has been the toast of friends, colleagues and numerous well-wishers across the divides who have been on his trail as either a legal and judicial consultant or as a resource person in law and legal related conferences.Throughout his illustrious career at the Bench spanning over 30 years, Justice Oguntade was distinguished by his exceptional brilliance in expounding and expanding the law in accord with substantial justice.Justice Oguntade's most-prized qualities possibly, were his resilience and courage. He was not in the league of timorous and selfish judges who bowed to public sentiments just to please the crowd. He was a judge of avowed integrity who unwaveringly subscribed to judicial activism and innovation. The very height of his judicial activism was demonstrated in the often-cited case of Amaechi v. INEC where he not only upturned the election of Celestine Omehia as Governor of Rivers State, but also ordered that Rotimi Amaechi be sworn in as Governor of Rivers State without delay.According to him, he was motivated by the desire to do substantial justice in the case of the governor versus the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).Ameachi, he stated, was wrongfully excluded from the election as he was the validly nominated candidate of the party in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Electoral Act.He said the same principle guided the court also in the case of Senator Ifeanyi Ararume and the PDP who was expelled by the party in an apparent attempt to render the judgment of the apex court nugatory.Oguntade, who voiced his frustration at the lawlessness exhibited by the ruling party in its bid to frustrate the court judgment, said if he had his way, the party would have been committed for contempt.'After Ararume won the case in the Supreme Court, PDP then said, well, you have won the case but we have expelled you from the party. If I had my way, I do not know why PDP should not be committed for contempt', stated.But Justice Oguntade will be most remembered for successfully using the law as an instrument of social engineering. He also used the law to develop the country's constitutional democracy and the rule of law. For example, in interpreting the vexed Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution in Fawehinmi vs Inspector-General of Police, Justice Oguntade averred that a sitting governor can be investigated while still in office, but cannot be prosecuted until he has left office.Justice Oguntade was also on the panel of the Supreme Court Justices that ruled that the tenure of Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State should start from the date he was sworn in as Governor.Adducing reason why the presidential election held in Nigeria on April 21, 2007, in which Atiku Abubakar was excluded should be annulled to make room for a fresh election, Justice Oguntade stated thus: 'In an election under a democratic system, all political parties recognised under and their candidates must be treated equally and fairly. The public body organising the election must ensure that all the political parties and their candidates are afforded equal opportunity to approach the electorate with their party programmes. The public body must not show special favour or disfavour to any of the candidates'.In Atiku vs Yar'Adua, Justice Oguntade wrote the most illuminating dissenting judgment. He faulted the declaration of Shehu Musa Yar'Adua as President of Nigeria. The great jurist, who also wrote the dissenting judgment in the case of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), said judges must be encouraged to exercise independence of mind in the interpretation and application of law so as to protect the rights of the people.On the case of the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and INEC when he was excluded from contesting the 2007 presidential election on the strength of a committee set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Oguntade said the former Vice President was treated unfairly because he was denied the provisions of Section 34 (2) of the Electoral Act, which provides for 90 days of campaigning before election as he (Atiku Abubakar) only had four days to campaign.And shortly before his retirement, Justice Oguntade delivered the lead judgment granting the relief sought by Bernard Longe, former managing director of First Bank Plc, that he was unjustly sacked from the bank.Justice Oguntade's uncommon courage and resilience in his legendary judicial career is worthy of emulation.Justice Oguntade was appointed a judge of the High Court of Lagos State of Nigeria in September 1980 after practising at the Lagos Bar for 14 years. Between 1984 and 1986, he served as the chairman of the Armed Robbery and Firearms Tribunal in Lagos State.In September 1987, he was elevated to the Court of Appeal.He served as justice of the Court of Appeal Enugu, Enugu State, from September 1987 - September 1993; presiding justice, Court of Appeal, Ibadan, Oyo State from September 1993 - September 1995; presiding justice, Court of Appeal, Jos, Plateau State - September 1995-December 1998; presiding justice, Court of Appeal, Lagos, Lagos State from January 1999 - December 2002 and presiding justice, Court of Appeal, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory from January 2003 - May 2004.On May 19, 2004, he was elevated to the Supreme Court of Nigeria. His tenure on the Supreme Court Bench saw the delivery of several landmark judgments (including several dissents as earlier stated), which substantially impacted on many areas of law, particularly in the realm of constitutional and administrative law.Many of his dissenting judgments have attained the status of locus classicus and have remained the subject of discourse and analysis in law schools and legal circles.Justice Oguntade retired from the Supreme Court Bench on March 10, 2010. In April 2010, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria decorated him with the national honours of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the development of law in Nigeria.The papers he has delivered include: 'Barrier to Justice -The Nigerian Experience' - delivered at the International Bar Association Conference in Chicago, USA in September 2005; 'Fighting Corruption and Money Laundering in Banking' ' delivered at the 26th International Symposium on Economic Crimes in Cambridge England in September 2008; 'Dissenting Judgments and Judicial Lawmaking' - Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies - December 2009 and 'Surely Justice is Denied When Delayed' - Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja - December 2007.He has also earned several international appointments, among which is, a member, World Jurist Association ' March 2009.Even though he has retired, Oguntade is still interested in the wellbeing of the courts. He has called for amendment of Rules of the Court to aid advocacy in the nation's judicial system, describing congestions in courts as worrisome.He said the congestion of courts was giving Nigeria a bad image among other countries of the world.His words: 'The purview of the legal profession has changed from what it was during my time in 1966, when I was called to Bar, although there were only a few lawyers then'.In his views, urgent attention should be paid to the issues that gave rise to congestions of our courts. 'The practical solution to bringing sanity to our court is for judges not to be afraid in doing wrong when adjudicating a matter, in as much as they are convinced that they are on the right path. The duty of a judge is to adjudicate over a case. Whatever happens at the appellate court should not be of concern to him, as long as he has discharged his duty to the best of his knowledge. If judges don't go wrong, the appellate court won't have work to do. Therefore, there is no wrong in doing wrong as a judge', he declared.Interestingly, not many know that Justice Oguntade used to be a businessman dealing in furniture before becoming a judge. According to him, his appointment as a judge in 1980 was not universally received by many lawyers whose rational was that a business man can't be a judge.He narrated how he had to become a furniture dealer in the turbulence of the legal profession between 1966 and 1970. 'I was a carpenter before going to the Bench. Then, litigants were not forthcoming so I was left with an option of looking for another means of survival', he said, adding that our economy may not accommodate all the lawyers from the Law School, that is why young lawyers should learn how to survive outside the legal service. Oguntade, who is currently a consultant to GMO legal practitioners, is married with children among whom is the GMO legal principal counsel, Mr. George M. Oguntade (jnr), (SAN).
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