The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, has warned the political class on the consequence of ignoring court orders, saying such act poses a serious threat to democracy.

This was contained in a letter signed by Justice Musdapher to the Plateau State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Edward Pwajok, as a result of a petition directed to his office by two local government council chairmen in Plateau State, whose tenures were allegedly altered in spite of a court injunction restraining the state government.

In his reaction, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice told the Nigerian Tribune on phone that his office was in possession of the letter.

A letter dated January 24, 2012, and obtained by newsmen in Jos, depicted that a court of competent jurisdiction had directed Governor Jonah Jang not to remove the chairmen of Langtang North and Bokkos Local Government Areas from office pending the determination on notice instituted by them against such action.

The court order, in the letter by the Chief Justice of the Nigeria, had specifically stated that the government and its agencies must stay action on plans to truncate or terminate the tenure of the council chairmen before the expiration of their three years tenure and “pending the determination on notice instituted by them against such action.”

He further declared that, “without strict adherence to the law, our nascent democracy and indeed our constitution will only be worth the paper on which it is written.”

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