ADAMAWA’S EXCELLENT AND HONOURABLE MESS Written by Eugene Enahoro dr_enahoro@yahoo If any further evidence was needed to buttress the conclusion that our political class have no integrity and aren’t concerned with the public interest, the recent events in Adamawa State provided it in glaring detail. Adamawa is one of the three North East states still under a state of emergency. At a time when they should be uniting to bring peace, prosperity and progress to their people, Adamawa political leaders have been fully occupied with political intrigue. Their shameful self-centred behaviour serves only to give more credence to those who argue that they are all unworthy of office and are a major part of the problem with the state. Following the impeachment of the governor, the former deputy governor had asked the Federal High Court to declare his own resignation void, arguing that the letter in his handwriting given to the Speaker was unconstitutional because it was not handed to the governor. The truth is that the laws governing impeachment proceedings are defective. For example supposing the governor dies and the deputy does not want to take over, who does he resign to? Convinced that the state’s House of Assembly’s acting upon the letter was an illegality, the judge voided the processes under which the Speaker became Acting Governor and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to suspend governorship by-elections. This decision to instate the former deputy governor as substantive Governor completed a circle of absurdity. Taking into consideration the expenses associated with litigation, electoral campaigns, and INEC preparing for cancelled elections, this whole charade has wasted billions. Although the honourable justice’s ruling was in accordance with the law it was myopic, the end result being the new governor profiting from actively participating in an illegality. The real crux of the matter is that the letter was written in order to forestall impeachment, and there was either an intention to resign or to fool the people, yet the Judge allowed the former deputy governor to benefit from his own wrong. One of the outstanding Judges of the last Century was the legendary Lord Denning, Britain’s former Master of the Rolls, whom most Nigerian judges would do well to emulate. Known for bold judgments, he was quoted as saying “unlike my brother judge who is concerned with the law, I am concerned with justice”. Whenever faced with a situation that seemed dishonest, unjust or wrong, Denning would find a remedy even if the wrongdoer appeared to have the law on his side. Firmly believing that each case should be treated on its own merit, he campaigned vigorously against using precedent when deciding cases with similar issues or facts. His devotion to justice was rooted in his strong faith. Denning said “without religion there is no morality, and without morality there is no law”, and judgments are simply “a solution that the majority of right-minded people would consider fair”. The majority of right-minded people don’t think it’s fair that any of the major actors in this matter should benefit from the complete waste of time and money occasioned by their political antics. In the legal proceedings the public interest was never taken into consideration. Adamawa citizens were not a party to the case; the litigation was not instituted in the public interest, but for personal interests. Some legal experts claim the honourable justices’ hands were “tied” because in matters of parliamentary democracy Judges have no right to stretch the interpretation of law to an extent which amounts to the creation of a new law. But whenever Denning’s hands were tied and he couldn’t ensure justice, he at least made sure he left markers for the future by openly dissenting with the law while enforcing it in his judgments. In the Adamawa case the honourable justice declined to make reference to insincerity by the man he installed as Governor. Perhaps one day Nigeria shall be blessed with Judges who have the courage and patriotism, to understand that their major concern should be making this country a fairer and more equitable society by dispensing justice as opposed to simply enforcing laws. As for the actors involved in this matter their antics come as no surprise. Nigerian politicians have a well-earned reputation for behaving dishonourably, having no scruples, hardly ever telling the truth, and being irredeemably corrupt. Our ever growing socio-economic problems are rooted in the total ineffectiveness of State Houses of Assembly who have without exception failed in their duty to ensure effective governance by checking corrupt practices and authoritarian ten-dencies on the part of the executive. Instead of doing the job they are paid to do, they focus on receiving underhand payments for passing legislation and moving impeachment notices. Their selfish behaviour impedes responsible governance and impacts negatively on our development. Legislatures are suppo-sed to be responsible for guaranteeing strict adhe-rence to constitutionalism and the rule of law, but the Court ruling illustrates that a Speaker and Members of the House don’t even know the law as it concerns themselves! The main actors in this drama were his Excellency the executive governor, his Excellency the deputy governor, the Honourable Justice, and the Honourable Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly. Until such as time as our Governors concern themselves with excellent performances in office, our judges concern themselves with justice, and our Honourable Members live up to the appellation by acting morally, our nation shall continue to experience this sort of “excellent and honourable” mess!
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 06:15:44 +0000
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