JUSTIN; AMICHI MUST NOT EXPERIMENT WITH A SUBSISTING COURT ORDER

There Is a Lawful Door Open to Everyone By 

Amichi Voices for Peace and Justice 

The present conversation in Amichi should no longer be reduced to the question of who supports one individual, faction or institution. 

There is a much more fundamental issue before our community: How should responsible citizens behave when a court of competent jurisdiction has made an order affecting a dispute that is still before it? Our answer is simple: use the Court, not self-help. Different interpretations are presently being advanced about what should happen to the leadership and administration of the Amichi Development Union. 

Those differences may be genuine. Some may believe that subsequent events have changed the circumstances. Others may believe that the existing arrangement must continue until the Court speaks again. But neither side becomes the Court merely because it is convinced that its interpretation is correct.

 AMICHI IS NOT THE FIRST COMMUNITY TO FACE THIS TEST 

Experience elsewhere in Anambra State should teach us something. At Okpoko, a town-union leadership controversy reached the High Court. When questions subsequently arose concerning the election and the expired tenure of the former executive, it was the Court itself that expressly determined the consequences and directed the course to be followed. 

Awgbu similarly experienced prolonged disagreement involving its town-union election, community constitution and court proceedings. And at Nimo, controversy arose after allegations that a town-union election proceeded notwithstanding judicial intervention, producing precisely the kind of tension Amichi should avoid. 

The lesson is not that these communities are legally identical to Amichi. They are not. Every court order must be understood according to its own wording and circumstances. The lesson is more elementary: when a community leadership dispute has entered the courtroom, unilateral action outside the courtroom can deepen rather than resolve the problem.

 THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH CHALLENGING AN ORDER

 Respecting a court order does not mean surrendering one's legal position. Anybody who considers an existing order inappropriate has lawful remedies. 

The affected person or body can approach the Court for clarification, variation, discharge or other appropriate consequential orders.

 Where legally available, appellate remedies may also be explored. What should concern every peace-loving Amichi citizen is the suggestion that a person or institution should simply proceed with an act arguably prohibited by a subsisting order and leave the consequences for another day. 

That approach is unnecessary. Why risk confrontation when the doors of the Court remain open? 

THIS APPEAL IS TO EVERY SIDE 

We address this equally to the former executive, the Registered Trustees, village leaderships, government authorities and every group claiming an interest in the future administration of Amichi. 

Nobody should encourage another person or body to deliberately violate, circumvent or test the limits of a subsisting judicial order through unilateral action. Equally, nobody should distort an interlocutory order into a permanent political mandate if that is not what the Court ordered. 

Neither extreme serves Amichi. Where there is uncertainty, seek clarification. Where there is dissatisfaction, challenge the order through lawful procedure. 

Where circumstances have materially changed, place those circumstances before the Court. But until the competent Court speaks otherwise, peace and respect for judicial authority should prevail over political expediency. 

OUR COMMUNITY IS BIGGER THAN THIS CONTROVERSY

 There will be other elections. There will be other executives. 

Trustees and government officials will eventually change. But Amichi will remain. We therefore appeal particularly to those presently being encouraged to take decisive administrative steps: do not allow yourselves to be pushed into an avoidable confrontation with judicial authority. 

No political objective is worth placing the peace of Amichi at risk when a lawful avenue for resolving the disagreement remains available.

 Go to Court. Seek clarification. Seek variation where necessary. Challenge what you consider wrong. But do not replace judicial process with self-help. 

That is neither weakness nor support for any particular administration. 

It is respect for the rule of law. 

AMICHI VOICES FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

 Peace • Justice • Due Process • One Amichi