The silence of Nigeria’s Supreme Court over the Certified True Copy (CTC) of its ruling on Peter Obi’s 2023 presidential election appeal has become a matter of grave national concern, raising questions about transparency, accountability, and the integrity of the judiciary.
On October 26, 2023, the apex court dismissed the appeals filed by Obi, candidate of the Labour Party, and Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), thereby affirming the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. While Atiku’s judgment was eventually released weeks later—though well outside the standard time frame—Obi’s has conspicuously remained absent from public records.
By law and established judicial convention, judgments of this magnitude are expected to be documented and made available to litigants, lawyers, and the general public within 7 to 14 days. The delay of nearly a year has understandably sparked outrage. Senior lawyer and rights activist, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, was one of the first to publicly highlight this omission, describing it as “unprecedented” in the history of Nigeria’s electoral jurisprudence. The Labour Party has since called it a direct affront to fair hearing principles, while Obi himself warned that the silence erodes “public confidence in the judiciary.”
The stakes are high. Nigeria’s 2023 elections were among the most contentious in the Fourth Republic, with record youth turnout and global attention. For many, Obi represented the face of electoral reform and civic renewal. The Supreme Court’s failure to release a CTC not only undermines the transparency of its decision but also feeds into wider narratives about a judiciary compromised by politics. Without written reasons, citizens, legal scholars, and historians are left unable to interrogate the logic, evidence, and precedents behind the judgment.
Defenders of the court argue that Obi’s case was “subsidiary” to Atiku’s and that the judgment was merely “abided” by the ruling in the PDP appeal. But critics counter that democracy cannot be run on procedural shortcuts. Every litigant, especially in an election that engaged tens of millions of Nigerians, deserves clarity. The absence of a CTC creates the perception of selective justice, eroding trust in institutions that are supposed to be the last line of defense for democracy.
This is not merely a legal technicality; it cuts to the core of constitutional governance. Transparency in judicial proceedings is essential to ensure that judgments are not only delivered but are seen to be delivered fairly. In 2019, even with the controversies surrounding Muhammadu Buhari’s reelection, the Supreme Court released all relevant judgments within weeks. The current opacity sets a worrying precedent.
Nigeria’s judiciary is already grappling with a trust deficit. Surveys by Afrobarometer in 2023 showed that only 27% of Nigerians expressed confidence in the courts, a sharp decline from 43% in 2017. In a country still battling electoral violence, economic hardship, and deepening divisions, such judicial silence risks compounding national instability.
When the nation’s highest court withholds clarity, democracy itself trembles. Nigerians deserve to know why their votes were adjudged the way they were. If the judiciary cannot be fully transparent with the people it serves, then whose interests does it truly protect? Until the CTC of Obi’s judgment is released, the Supreme Court will remain under a cloud of suspicion, and Nigeria’s democracy will remain haunted by the shadows of unanswered questions.
