“Fair hearing or lack thereof is not an expression of mere rhetoric or empty verbalism but a fundamental right of a citizen guaranteed in the Constitution, and a breach of which will nullify the proceedings in favour of a victim. It cannot be construed outside the facts, and a party alleging the breach must show clearly that the said right is violated or breached – see Gbadamosi V. Dairo (2007) 3 NWLR (Pt 1021) 282 SC. It is not enough for a party alleging such a breach to merely wave the banner of fair hearing and expect this Court to jump to attention. The facts of his case must show that the said right was indeed violated – see Adebayo V. A.-G., Ogun State (2008) 7 NWLR (Pt. 1085) 201, wherein this Court per Tobi, JSC, hit the nail on the head, as follows: Parties, who have bad cases, embrace and make use of the constitutional provision of fair hearing to bamboozle the adverse Party and the Court, with a view to moving the Court away from the live issue in the litigation. They make the defence in most inappropriate cases because they have nothing to canvass in their favour. The fair hearing provision in the Constitution is the machinery or locomotive of justice, not a spare part to propel or invigorate the case of the user. It is not a causal principle of law available to a party to be picked up at will in a case and force the Court to apply to his advantage. It is a formidable and fundamental constitutional provision available to a party, who is really denied fair hearing because he was not heard or that he was not properly heard in the case. Let litigants, who have nothing useful to advocate in favour of their case, leave the fair hearing constitutional alone because it is not available to them just for the asking.” Per AMINA ADAMU AUGIE, JSC in OKEKE v. UWAECHINA (2022-LCER-46525-SC) (Pp 26 – 27; Paras A – C)