This Day
As the country plunges deeper into chaos, Nigerians are watching Politicians and the ruling class actively causing, partaking and fuelling anarchy in Nigeria.
Defections to the APC
I was extremely amused when I heard President Buhari’s comment that Zamfara Governor, Dr Bello Matawalle, defected to the APC (All Regressives Congress) because of their exemplary performance in governance. With all due respect to the President, we all know that the performance of the APC is far from glowing, and the reason that Dr Matawalle defected is based on nothing else but self-interest – to secure his position as Governor for a second term, having got his first term by virtue of the courts. I just pray that all the curses that he had rained on himself in 2019 should he defect from the PDP (People’s Destruction Party), do not affect the people of Zamfara State who already have more than their fair share of troubles, with the insecurity that has pervaded the State!
The truth of the matter is that, APC is PDP and PDP is APC; and Nigeria is desperately in need of a new crop of decent and intelligent people to salvage this country, not this gang of expired charlatans who have run out of ideas (that is, if they even had any in the first place), have absolutely nothing to offer, and think that they can fool Nigerians and reinvent themselves by jumping from one sinking ship to another. Be that as it may, while nothing in the Constitution seems to stand against Governors defecting from one political party to another more than insects perching from one plant to the other, it’s not quite the same for lawmakers. Last week, I watched a news clip of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, a Lawyer by training, happily congratulating one of his colleagues who defected from the PDP to the APC. Apparently, this member was the seventh defector-lawmaker to cross-carpet over a period of just one week. I emphasise the fact that Femi is a Lawyer, because he knows that by virtue of Sections 68(1)(g) and 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)(the Constitution), a Federal and State lawmaker cannot cross-carpet unless his or her Party is divided/in deep crisis. We all know that the PDP is not divided or in any particular crisis, save for the defection of its members to the APC for their purely selfish and self-serving reasons, believing that they can get juicier deals for themselves from the ruling APC, especially the Governors who are completing their second term.
But, the point is that, when the Chief Lawmaker No. 2 of the country along with his colleagues, whose mandate it is to make laws for the good governance of the country (Section 4 of the Constitution), openly display and express so much pleasure that the Constitution which they are meant to uphold, is being observed in the breach with gusto and aplomb, because the breach is a boost for the political party which they belong to, it shows that indeed, we are in a lawless country. One wonders why Nigerians are expected to be law abiding, when those in power are neither law abiding, nor are they particularly held accountable for breaking the law. Are there two different types of laws in Nigeria? One for the people, and another for the ruling class? The Constitution certainly does not so provide. On the contrary, Section 24(a) of the Constitution makes it mandatory for every citizen (including Politicians and lawmakers) to abide by the grundnorm.
Lauretta Onochie’s Repugnant Nomination
So, what is the big deal if Lauretta Onochie who once lambasted Nigerians for wanting to know the nature of the President’s sickness when he was away in the UK on medical tourism for an extended period of time (especially because the people felt that they had a right to know since he’s our President, and the country’s funds were probably being expended on his treatment), is nominated to be an INEC National Commissioner? Is this a civilised society that is governed by the rule of law? It is not.
I not only felt embarrassed by her nomination, but ashamed when I watched the news clip of part of her screening by the Senate Committee last Friday. She lied through her teeth that she is no longer a member of the APC, simply because she did not partake in the recent revalidation exercise of APC members! For goodness sake, are we morons?
What do these people take Nigerians for? If the Senate confirms her nomination, it will be obvious that truly, as many have claimed, Nigeria does not have a Senate, not in this 9th National Assembly anyway, but a rubber stamp agency of the Presidency. It will also be obvious that the APC is trying to turn INEC into DNEC (Dependent National Electoral Commission) and possibly manipulate the outcome of elections to favour their candidates, by inserting their party members into the electoral body.
Section 156(1)(a) of the Constitution provides that a member of INEC must not be a member of a political party.
Does Ms Onochie think that Nigerians are foolish; that because she claims not to be an up-to-date APC card carrying member, we are deceived into believing that she is not partisan, when we know that she’s more partisan than many other card-carrying members?!
It is true that we do not know the hearts of all the other members of INEC and their biases; but, in the case of those whose affiliations we are fortunate enough to be aware of in good time, such as Ms Onochie, the appropriate action must be taken – she should not be confirmed, especially for such a job like this, which demands indifference – it would be wrong, unethical and absolutely immoral. For one, if she is confirmed, our electoral umpire and process will lose the credibility it has. Just as Ms Onochie is not the only woman from Delta State that can be considered for this job, this is not the only position available in Government that she can be nominated for. In any event, Ms Onochie’s tweet of June 24, 2020 confirming that an APC e-NEC meeting would hold the next day, leaves us in no doubt that she’s not just an APC member, but a strong inner caucus one. It is disgraceful that she would therefore, perjure herself at the Senate Committee hearing, and indeed, to Nigerians, by trying to say otherwise, in a desperate bid to secure the INEC job – yet another reason that shows that she is not qualified for that particular position since it requires integrity. By her singular statement that she stopped participating in party politics in 2019, she told a lie. Does her action already pre-qualify as a misconduct under Section 157 of the Constitution, before even being confirmed for the position of INEC National Commission?!
It was stated in R v Sussex Justices Ex parte McCarthy 1924 1 K.B. 259 per Lord Justice Heart that: “Justice must not only be done, but also seen as done”. I submit that it would be an injustice for Ms Onochie to be confirmed as an INEC National Commissioner, on the ground that there are cogent enough reasons and reasonable evidence to show that there would be a high likelihood that she would be biased in favour of the APC. See the case of Deduwa v Okorodudu & Ors 1976 1 NMLR 237. Also see the Supreme Court case of Rafiu Womiloju & 6 Ors v Fatai Ogisanyin Anibire & 4 Ors SC.211/2002 per Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad JSC. I would even go a step further to submit that Ms Onochie’s loyalty and service to this administration, her previous membership of APC, her membership of APC which she sought to conceal, are more than mere conjecture – they are verified facts which amount to admissible evidence against her nomination. Applying the Reasonable Man’s test, it could certainly be inferred by a reasonable person that, based on her antecedents, there is a real likelihood that Ms Onochie would be biased. The proper thing for her to do is to decline this particular nomination (especially as she knows that many Nigerians, especially civil society organisations are rightfully against it), or the Senate Committee should reject her nomination, or the President withdraws his nomination.
P.S.
The alleged plan of the Federal Government to review the Land Use Act 1978, to purportedly remove the sections which prohibit economic development would be condemnable, if it seeks to remove the control of State lands from the purview of the respective Governors to the Federal Government (Section 1 of the Act), or insert some kind of veto power that allows the Federal Government to take over any land within a State if it so desires, for whatever purposes. This shows that the Federal Government couldn’t care less about whether such a move is anti-Federalism and rather entrenches Unitarianism, the latter concept being partly responsible for the failure of the Nigerian State, seeing as it is clearly not suited to the heterogeneous nation that we are. Some suspect that this initiative is a ploy to give out State land to the Herders for grazing purposes, at all cost. Hopefully, it will remain in the realm of an unsubstantiated allegation and suspicion, because if it’s true, this is the kind of decision that will undoubtedly give impetus to even more unrest and tribal discord in our nation. We certainly do not want that.
This article originally appeared in This Day.
