HOW TO HARNESS THE JURIDICAL EFFICACY OF DISSENTING JUDGMENTS OF MULTIPLE PANEL APPELLATE COURTS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Contrary to lay thinking, “dissenting judgments” are not utterly useless in the adjudicatory ecosystem in Nigeria. To provide clarity on the importance of dissenting judgments, this paper analysed the composition and mode of operation of the “Supreme Court” and “Court of Appeal” as multiple panel appellate Courts. The paper established that by law, their composition requires that these Courts must sit in panels and that where there is a split decision, the decision of the majority holds sway. The paper further established that a minority judgment of the Court of Appeal may be upheld at the Supreme Court after quashing the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal. However, the “minority judgment of the Supreme Court” remains not binding in perpetuity and it is no use relying on them or citing them as binding precedents in lower Courts. However, to harness the jurisprudential efficacy of dissenting judgments, it was recommended that the legislature should be reactive to issues raised in dissenting judgments so that in deserving cases, they are used to either amend, abrogate or enact new laws to suit the concerns raised therein for the progressive development of the law.