FALANA TO WIKE: YOU CAN’T SILENCE CONSTITUTIONAL CRITICISM OF THE SUPREME COURT

FALANA TO WIKE: YOU CAN’T SILENCE CONSTITUTIONAL CRITICISM OF THE SUPREME COURT
A war of words has erupted between human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over the interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling tied to the political crisis in Rivers State.
Wike had accused Falana of lying about the apex court’s judgment concerning the defection of 27 state lawmakers from the PDP to the APC. In a strongly worded rebuttal issued Sunday, Falana denied the accusation, labeling it a “desperate and failed attempt to incite the Supreme Court” against him.
He clarified that the defection issue was raised suo motu—on the court’s own accord—and was still pending before a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt. Falana asserted his constitutional and international right to critique judicial decisions, citing Section 39 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
He also dared Wike to file a formal complaint with the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee if he believed any ethical line had been crossed. Falana accused the minister of hypocrisy, recalling Wike’s past attacks on judges when decisions didn’t favour his political interests.
In a parting shot, Falana dismissed Wike’s taunts about him being a “television lawyer,” stating, “Only corrupt lawyers win every case in court.” He warned that the Supreme Court’s latest ruling requiring a party register to prove defection might embolden political opportunism if not reviewed in line with past judgments.