How NN sailed into trouble water

Capt. Labinjo had heaved a sigh of relief when the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal filed by the Navy as grossly without merit and resolved the sole issue in the appeal against it (Navy). The five members of the panel that took the decision were Justices Walter Nkanu Onnoghen (who read the lead judgment), Ibrahim […]

Capt. Labinjo had heaved a sigh of relief when the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal filed by the Navy as grossly without merit and resolved the sole issue in the appeal against it (Navy).
The five members of the panel that took the decision were Justices Walter Nkanu Onnoghen (who read the lead judgment), Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, Olufunlola Oyekola Adekeye (now retired), Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili and Olukayode Ariwoola. The judgment was delivered on Friday, June 1, 2012 in favour of the Navy Captain Labinjo.
Labinjo was dismissed from service after he was purportedly convicted for offences of disobedience of order, contrary to Section 91 of the Armed Forces Decree 105 of 1999.
He was tried by the general court martial and his conviction was thereafter confirmed by the Navy. On being charged before the general court martial, he applied to the Federal High Court Lagos to challenge the composition of the members and other reliefs.
On May 3, 2004, the Federal High Court granted his application for judicial review and declared the proceedings of the general court martial, his conviction and confirmation by the Navy Board as null and void and ordered his reinstatement into the Navy.
The Navy appealed to the Court of Appeal on May 31, 2004 and followed same up with an application filed on August 19, 2004 praying for departure from the rules of court which was subsequently fixed for hearing on May 29, 2005 but adjourned to December 8, 2005 for the Navy to produce clearer copies of the record as those exhibited were found by the court to be illegible.
Following the failure of the Navy to file more legible copies, the motion was again adjourned to March 22, 2006 and many other subsequent adjournments until May 12, 2008 when it was struck out for want of diligent prosecution. On that day, neither the NN nor their counsel was in court and no letter was written to excuse their absence despite service of a hearing notice on them.  
The appeal was subsequently dismissed for want of diligent prosecution resulting in the appeal to the Supreme Court.                       
It was not disputed that between the filing of the notice of appeal and the time the appeal was dismissed four years had passed and that the Navy failed to file legible copies of record of appeal to enable the appeal be heard and determined.
Speaking on a similar situation, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Aloma Mukhtar, had said: “Just as much as there is a saying that there must be an end to litigation, I will add here that there must also be an end to playing pranks, wasting the court’s time.”
The SC, in its unanimous decision not only restored him to his pre-trial position in the Navy but also ordered the payment of his arrears of salaries and allowances, promotions  as well as N50,000 cost against the Navy.
In a chat with Daily Trust, over the weekend, Labinjo, said that had the judgment gone the other way, the Navy would have wasted no time in enforcing it.
When contacted on phone a forthnight ago, NN spokesman Commodore Aliyu promised to get back to our correspondent but never did. He however suggested that the court orders were unenforceable.