?A senior lawyer, Gboyega Oyewole (SAN), has urged the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, to ensure compliance with a Supreme Court judgment which reinstated and promoted Lt. Cdr. S. A. Ibe-Lambert.

?The lawyer appealed for the CDS’ kind intervention in ensuring the withdrawal of a deserter signal issued against her by the Nigerian Navy on September 3.

?Oyewole regretted that despite the Attorney-General of the Federation (SGF), Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), recognizing the judgment and directing compliance, the Nigerian Navy has failed to act on it.

?The Supreme Court, in a September 21, 2007 judgment, ordered Ibe-Lambert, whose number is NN/0840, to be reinstated into the Nigerian Navy.

?It granted all her accrued entitlements, benefits and dues for promotion from the commencement of the litigation to the date of reinstatement.

?Oyewole, who is Ibe-Lambert’s counsel, noted that the judgment was further interpreted and given credence by the Federal High Court via an order dated February 22, 2013.

?The lawyer, in a September 9 letter to the CDS, stated: “The office of the Solicitor-General of the Federation/Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice under the office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, in recognizing the judgment of the Supreme Court, further instructed the Nigerian Navy to comply with the orders of the court as contained in the letters with reference no. MJ/LIT/ABJ/NN/174/15 dated 12th November, 2015 and reference no. MJ/LIT/ABJ/NN/172/16 dated 25th January, 2016.

“It is noteworthy that the Nigerian Navy has refused and/or neglected to comply with the judgment of the Supreme Court by neither reinstating, promoting nor paying the accrued salaries, benefits and entitlement of our client till date.

“Our client has since exceeded the statutory years of service since 2019 and is presumed to have retired from service since that date.

“Sir, rather than comply with the subsisting judgments of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, as well as the order of the Federal High Court and directive of the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, the Nigerian Navy has continued to not only disregard the court judgments but resort to intimidating and harassing our client through unconventional means, one of which is the recent ‘Deserter Signal’ issued on the 3rd of September, 2025 whereby our client was declared a deserter with effect from 2nd December, 2019.”

?Oyewole said his client finds the actions being taken by the Nigerian Navy not only unlawful “but baseless, contemptuous, particularly troubling and an affront to rule of law and our client’s constitutional rights”.

?He said it was more disheartening to find the Nigerian Navy treating the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, who is the chief law officer of the federation, with contempt by ignoring the advice that emanated from that exalted office on the matter.

?The lawyer continued: “The Nigerian Navy is not above the law and is still subject to the judgment of the sacred institutions like the Supreme Court, which is the highest court of the land.

“The Nigerian Navy should, therefore, avoid sending a wrong message under our democratic dispensation that they can treat institutions like the Supreme Court and the Office of the AG with impunity.

“It is in the light of the foregoing, that we humbly plead with your esteemed office to intervene by not only giving effect to the subsisting judgments of the court and the advice of the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation by ensuring that all accrued entitlements, promotion and benefits of our client are paid to her.”

?Oyewole also urged the CDS to “mandate the immediate retraction and withdrawal of the arbitrary deserter signal issued by the Nigerian Navy against our client to avoid attendant embarrassment to the institution of the Nigerian Navy by such further steps we may wish to take with respect to this matter”. (THISDAY)