The Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS, has dismissed a case filed against the Federal Government of Nigeria on the assassination of the late Mrs. Kudirat Abiola, the wife of the winner of 12 June 1993 presidential election, M.K.O Abiola.
The suit was filed by three members of the Abiola’s family, Khalifa Abiola, Moriam Abiola and Hadi Abiola, who alleged Kudirat’s rights violations with her was assassinated in 1996 while advocating her husband’s release from detention.
According to the applicants, the Nigerian government violated Kudirat’s fundamental human rights by failing to hold her killers accountable, despite a commission of Inquiry identifying a key suspect, Sergeant Barnabas Jebila.
In its ruling delivered on Friday, the Judge Rapporteur, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, stated that the applicants lacked the legal capacity to sue, as they failed to establish a direct relationship with Kudirat or present any legal mandate to act on behalf of her estate.
In a statement sent to The PUNCH through email, the case with suit number ECW/CCJ/APP/62/22, the ECOWAS court rejected Nigeria’s objections regarding its jurisdiction, affirming its competence to hear cases involving alleged human rights violations by member states.
The court clarified that its role does not involve acting as an appellate body over national court rulings.
‘The Court also dismissed the objections of the Respondent, Federal Republic of Nigeria, challenging its competence to determine the matter which it described as beyond the scope of Article 9 of the Protocol of the Court. It equally dismissed the Respondent’s submissions that the Applicants were requesting the Court to determine a case already decided by its national court and that the case had exceeded the time limit allowed for legal action.
‘However, the Court noted that the applicants, suing on behalf of themselves and the estate of Mrs Kudirat Abiola, had not demonstrated legal capacity to sue on behalf of late Mrs Kudirat Abiola’s estate.
‘Consequently, the Court ruled the case as inadmissible for lack of legal capacity of the Applicants to sue on behalf of themselves and late Mrs Kudirat Abiola in this matter.
‘The ruling was delivered by a panel of judges, including Hon. Justice Sengu Mohamed Koroma (Presiding), Hon. Justice Gberi-bè Ouattara (Member), and Hon. Justice Edward Amoako Asante (Judge Rapporteur)’, the statement stated.
