Nigeria, April 5 -- In Nigeria, every act of political grubbiness, sooner or later, ends up before the courts. The kinds of things that come out of the courts in these disputes defy understanding. Colonial rule in Nigeria established a durable method of cleaning up dirty politics. It always found a judge or judicial order to give it the cover of law.

Since the onset of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in May 2023, the playbook has become a familiar script, turning Nigerian judges into what has been described as "authors of confusion". It usually begins with an orchestrated internal leadership dispute in an opposition political party. Then "one faction goes to court, the court issues a vague interim order dressed in Latin...