Judiciary
….warns of dangerous assault on constitutional right to access justice
THE Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) expresses profound alarm and strong condemnation over the Federal High Court’s decision imposing a staggering N140 million cost against members of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, and an additional N10 million personal cost against their counsel, Chief Chris Uche, SAN.
HURIWA believes that while courts possess the constitutional authority to award costs in deserving cases, such powers must never be transformed into instruments of intimidation capable of frightening Nigerians away from the temple of justice. The frightening magnitude of these financial penalties raises fundamental constitutional questions about whether access to justice is gradually becoming a privilege reserved only for the wealthy and politically connected.
The association is not questioning the authority of the court to determine whether it possessed jurisdiction or whether the suit was legally sustainable. Rather, our concern lies with what appears to be the judicial endorsement of punitive financial sanctions so excessive that they risk creating a dangerous precedent capable of discouraging citizens, civil society organisations, political parties and public interest litigants from approaching the courts whenever they perceive that their constitutional or legal rights have been violated.
Section 6 of the Constitution vests judicial powers in the courts precisely to ensure that disputes are resolved through legal processes instead of street confrontations or political brinkmanship. If litigants must now fear that an unsuccessful action could expose them to crippling financial liabilities running into hundreds of millions of naira, then the constitutional guarantee of access to justice stands gravely imperilled.
HURIWA is particularly disturbed because the plaintiffs did not approach the court on a frivolous adventure. The Tamimu-led tendency within the PDP sought judicial intervention because it genuinely believes that the soul, identity and institutional independence of Africa’s largest opposition party are under systematic assault through what it perceives as external political interference orchestrated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) using influential political surrogates, including the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and his loyalists.
Whether that perception is ultimately correct or mistaken is a matter for judicial determination. However, in every constitutional democracy, litigants must remain free to ventilate such grievances before competent courts without the spectre of financial annihilation hanging over their heads.
HURIWA warns that the growing trend of imposing astronomical costs in politically sensitive litigation could produce a chilling effect across Nigeria’s democratic landscape. Opposition parties, activists, journalists, whistleblowers, election petitioners and ordinary citizens may begin to conclude that seeking judicial remedies has become an unbearably expensive gamble. Such a perception would constitute a serious setback for constitutional democracy and the rule of law.
The association recalls that democracies flourish when citizens have confidence that the judiciary remains an open forum where even unpopular causes can be heard fairly and without intimidation. The courtroom must never become a place where litigants fear economic devastation merely because their legal arguments fail.
More troubling is the dangerous signal these unprecedented financial sanctions may send to future litigants. Justice must not only be impartial; it must also be accessible. Judicial processes should never create the impression that they are being used, deliberately or inadvertently, to shield political establishments from legal scrutiny by erecting prohibitive financial barriers against challengers.
HURIWA therefore calls on appellate courts to closely examine this emerging trend with a view to ensuring that judicial discretion in awarding costs remains firmly anchored on the constitutional principles of fairness, proportionality, equity and access to justice.
The association also urges the National Judicial Council, the Nigerian Bar Association, constitutional scholars and all defenders of democracy to initiate a national conversation on the increasing use of punitive costs in politically significant cases. Democracy cannot thrive where fear replaces faith in the judicial process.
History teaches that independent courts become stronger—not weaker—when citizens are encouraged to seek lawful remedies instead of resorting to political violence, self-help or public disorder. The judiciary must continue to inspire confidence as the last hope of the common man, not cultivate apprehension as the most expensive institution to approach.
HURIWA reiterates that justice should never carry a price tag so frightening that it deters Nigerians from exercising one of their most sacred constitutional rights—the right to seek redress before a court of law.
A.I
July 21, 2026
Tags: Adolphus Wabara Chief Chris Uche HURIWA Nyesom Wike