The Supreme Court has ordered a lawyer to personally pay ₦50 million for filing what it described as a highly frivolous and abusive application seeking to overturn one of its final judgments.
The court ruled that the lawyer must pay the fine within 90 days or lose the right to appear before any court in Nigeria.
The case arose after former Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Mustapha Haruna Jokolo, asked the Supreme Court to set aside its June 4, 2025 judgment in a dispute involving the Gwandu Emirate Council in Kebbi State.
In the application, filed through his lawyer, S.M. Danyaro, Jokolo alleged that the judgment was obtained through fraudulent misrepresentation of the law and violated his constitutional right to a fair hearing. He also asked the apex court to constitute a fresh panel to hear the appeal again.
However, lawyers representing the Kebbi State Government and other respondents opposed the application, arguing that the Supreme Court has no power to review its own final judgments except to correct clerical errors or accidental mistakes.
Delivering the lead ruling on May 15, Justice Jamilu Tukur held that Order 20 Rule 4 of the Supreme Court Rules is only meant to correct typographical errors, accidental slips or omissions in judgments and cannot be used to reopen or rehear cases that have already been concluded.
The court stressed that the Supreme Court is the country’s final court, and once it delivers judgment, the matter comes to an end.
“The authority of this Court rests on the certainty and finality of its decisions. Once judgment has been delivered, there is no higher court, no further appeal and no mechanism for revisiting the merits of the case,” the court held.
The justices warned that allowing dissatisfied parties to repeatedly seek fresh hearings would destroy confidence in the judicial system and create endless litigation.
The court described the application as a direct attack on the authority and integrity of the Supreme Court, saying it showed a serious misunderstanding of the court’s constitutional role.
It also expressed concern over what it described as an increasing trend of lawyers filing baseless applications before the apex court.
According to the court, legal practitioners have a duty to uphold the law and should not burden the Supreme Court with speculative or hopeless cases.
The justices said the Supreme Court is not an arena for endless litigation or experimental arguments, but an institution whose decisions bring disputes to a final conclusion.
As a result, the application was dismissed in its entirety, while the court reaffirmed that its June 4, 2025 judgment remains valid and binding on all parties.
The court then imposed a punitive cost of ₦50 million on Danyaro, holding him personally responsible for filing the application.
The ruling was unanimously supported by Justices Uwani Abba-Aji, Ibrahim Saulawa, Emmanuel Agim and Chioma Nwosu-Iheme.
The decision reinforces the long-standing principle famously stated by late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa:
“We are not final because we are infallible; we are infallible because we are final.”
