THE STATUS OF A TRANSFORMED TREATY IN NIGERIAN DOMESTIC PLANE: A CRITIQUE OF THE SUPREME COURT DECISION IN FAWEHINMI V ABACHA

Abstract

In Fawehinmi v. Abacha,1 the Supreme Court of Nigeria decided that treaties are (with the exception of theConstitution) of a higher status than other Municipal Laws. The dissenting Judgement of Achike JSC in theAbacha’s Case is that ‘a treaty which has been incorporated into the body of Municipal Laws ranks at par withthe Municipal Law.’ This work however preferred the dissenting Judgement of Achike JSC to the view expressedby Ogundare JSC in the lead Judgement. It is worrisome that section 12(1) of the Constitution of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended which deals with the implementation and application of treaties inNigeria does not state the status of the transformed treaty, therefore leaving it to the whims and caprices of thecourts. No wonder there is conflict in reasoning of the Justices in the case of Fawehinmi v. Abacha. Theresearch for this work is mainly through primary and secondary sources. The research found that despite thedomestication of treaties in Nigeria by the National Assembly in accordance with the Constitution, the status ofthe transformed treaty is yet unknown. This work therefore examines the lapses in the Constitution with respectto the status of a transformed treaty in Nigeria including the pitfalls in Abacha’s case and proffers suggestions.