The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal in Abuja yesterday held proceedings as scheduled despite the public holiday declared by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, ahead of today’s Area Council elections.
The FCT Administration had yesterday announced February 20, as a work-free day to enable residents to travel to their respective council areas to participate in the local government polls slated for today, February 21. While most offices under the FCT Civil Service complied with the directive, Nigeria’s two highest appellate courts opened and heard cases.
By contrast, the Federal High Court and the High Court of the FCT largely observed the holiday, with court registries closed and matters adjourned, leaving litigants and lawyers with mixed court schedules across the capital.
Judicial sources said the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal proceeded with sittings, on the grounds that the minister’s directive applied only to FCT public servants and agencies under the territory’s administration, not to federal constitutional courts whose operations are regulated nationally.
Senior lawyers in Abuja also noted that the holiday was not declared by the Federal Government as a nationwide public holiday and therefore could not suspend sittings of courts established by the Constitution. Some panels of the appellate courts were said to have fixed judgments and appeals – including election-related matters from across the federation – that could not be postponed without disrupting national court calendars.
Civil society organisations criticised the FCT holiday as arbitrary and disruptive. They argued that while the minister may declare holidays for FCT workers, extending the shutdown across the capital without federal backing caused avoidable inconvenience to businesses, litigants and residents.
The Area Council elections taking place today, Saturday are the first in the FCT since Wike assumed office in 2023. Officials of the FCT Administration had defended the holiday as necessary, in order to ease voter movement from the city centre to satellite towns and rural council areas where many registered voters are expected to cast ballots.
However, opposition figures and civic groups maintained that normal electoral logistics do not require shutting down activities across the federal capital, warning against what they described as executive overreach in a city that hosts national institutions.
Court activities in the Federal High Court and FCT High Court are expected to resume on Monday, while proceedings in the appellate courts continue uninterrupted.
