No question as to the validity of this Decree or any other Decree made during the period 31st th December 1983 to 26 August 1993 or made after the commencement of this Decree or of an Edict shall be entertained by a court of law in Nigeria. 12. The Political Parties (Dissolution) Decree 12993, 13 (1) reads: Notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1979, as amended, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act or any other enactment, no proceeding shall lie or be instituted in any court for or on account of any act, matter or thing done or purported to be done in respect of this Decree. 13. The reference in Article 7.1.a to “fundamental rights as guaranteed by conventions...in enforce” signifies the rights in the Charter itself, among others. Given that Nigeria ratified the African Charter in 1983, it is presently a convention in enforce in Nigeria. If Nigeria wished to withdraw its ratification, it would have to undertake an international process involving notice, which it has not done. Nigeria cannot negate the effects of its ratification of the Charter through domestic action. Nigeria remains under the obligation to guarantee the rights of Article 7 to all of its citizens. 14. The ousting of jurisdiction of the courts of Nigeria over any decree enacted in the past ten years, and those to be subsequently enacted, constitutes an attack of incalculable proportions on Article 7. The complaint refers to a few examples of decrees which violate human rights but which are now beyond review by the courts. An attack of this sort on the jurisdiction of the courts is especially invidious, because while it is a violation of human rights in itself, it permits other violations of rights to go unredressed. 15. Article 26 of the African Charter reiterates the right enshrined in Article 7 but is even more explicit about States Parties’ obligations to “guarantee the independence of the Courts and allow the establishment and improvement of appropriate national institutions entrusted with the promotion and protection of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the present Charter.” While Article 7 focuses on the individual’s right to be heard, Article 26 speaks of the institutions which are essential to give meaning and content to that right. This Article clearly envisions the protection of the courts which have traditionally been the bastion of protection of the individual’s rights against the abuses of State power. 16. The communication notes that Nigeria fully incorporated the African Charter upon ratification in 1983. The African Charter upon ratification in 1983. The African Charter (Ratification and Enforcement Act) specified: 17. As from the commencement of this Act, the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights... shall, subject as there under provided, have force of law in Nigeria and shall be given full recognition and effect and be applied by all authorities and persons exercising legislative, executive or judicial powers in Nigeria. 18. It is this Act that is repealed by clause 13 (1) of the Political Parties Dissolution Decree. 19. Any doubt that may exist as to Nigeria’s obligations under the African Charter is dispelled by reference to Article 1 of the Charter, which reads: The Member States ... Parties to the present Charter shall recognise the rights, duties and freedoms enshrined in this Charter and shall undertake to adopt legislative or other measures to give effect to them. 20. The African Commission has to express its approval of Nigeria’s original incorporation of the Charter, an incorporation that should set a standard for all Africa, and its sadness at the subsequent nullification of this incorporation. The Commission must emphasise, however, that the obligation of the Nigerian government to guarantee the right to be heard to its citizens still remains, unaffected by the purported revocation of domestic effect of the Charter. The Charter remains in force in Nigeria, and