By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
The extent to which legal practitioners can stretch the provisions of Order 20 Rule 4 of the Supreme Court Rules 2024 became a matter of public discourse recently.
This was after the apex court unleashed the sledgehammer against a lawyer it ordered to personally pay a cost of N50 million for bringing a highly vexatious application before it.In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel of the court ordered that the cost must be paid within 90 days, failing which the lawyer would cease to have the right of audience in any court in Nigeria.
Trouble started when the Supreme Court was approached to review and set aside a judgment it delivered on June 4, 2025, in respect of a dispute in the Gwandu Emirate Council of Kebbi State.
In a motion on notice filed on October 2, 2025, the court was specifically urged to vacate its judgment in Suit No: SC/266/2017 (Governor of Kebbi State & 12 Ors v. Alhaji AlMustapha Haruna Jokolo & Anor), on grounds of fraudulent misrepresentation of law and violation of constitutional provisions.
