Omoniyi Salaudeen
Dr Tunji Abayomi is a renowned constitutional lawyer and human right activist. In this interview, he barred his mind on the state of the nation, as well as the current trial of the judiciary by the political class.
According to him, the scenario whereby political parties are rushing back to the Supreme Court for review of some of its judgments is not only embarrassing, but also unwarranted.
How would you react to the idea of political parties seeking a retrial of Supreme Court judgment on some election petitions notably Imo and Bayelsa state governorship elections?
It is unprecedented, as well as unwarranted. The Supreme Court is infallible because it is the Supreme Court. And there must be an end to litigation. When you go from the High Court to the Supreme Court, the expectation is that by the time you get to the Supreme Court, you must have got justice according to the law. Two, Supreme Court has no court of appeal above it. Once it takes a decision, it cannot reconsider that case again because it cannot sit on appeal over its own judgment or decision. So, rushing to the Supreme Court, in my mind, is an unnecessary adventure by lawyers. I will even say it is an unnecessary misadventure. The constitution makes it clear that a decision of the Supreme Court binds all authorities.
What do you think the concerned parties stand to benefit from this so-called adventure?
The first problem of Nigeria is that we have undeveloped polity. We have corruption and a corrupted polity. We have political leaders who simply do have vision. If you compare the performance of our political leaders with other countries particularly outside Africa, you will see a great difference. Take as an example the process of trying to impeach Donald Trump and the contributions of members of House of Representatives and the Senate in the US; you will appreciate the difference in the quality of their leadership. The resolution of political neurosis in Nigeria will not come from the court. Politicians live in the illusion. They actually are the sources of the problems because they are more preoccupied with the perk of office rather than the burden of leadership. When a nation is preoccupied with money instead of knowledge, the nation never grows well. Most vastly populated nations today in the world are getting positive rating and advancement in every area of life except Nigeria. We get negative rating; people don’t like us for just cause. The quality of leadership in our country is very poor. Look at the caliber of the people at the Supreme Court itself; can you compare them to Elias, Fatai Williams, and many of those past judges?
To the ordinary people, what politicians are doing is like putting judiciary on trial.
(Cuts in) They are even embarrassing the judiciary. The judiciary itself has been going through what I will call a journey of low prestige for a while. We had a situation in the past where a lawyer stood up at the Supreme Court and accused the Chief Justice of corruption. We must also appreciate that rushing back to the Supreme Court is also a challenge to the Supreme Court to do a thorough job in its judgments. Judgment should not be to merely resolve a problem, but to set standard for the future. Under the present circumstance, the future of Nigeria as a nation is bleak. It is tormenting. Why is it that we cannot go for the best and set objective standard? Seventy per cent of physicians in America are Nigerians. We are the most educated community in the United States. As a community, we have the highest number of Ph.D holders in the US and yet the nation is in a mess.
Are you in effect saying that the judiciary itself played into the hands of the political class?
Of course, by corrupt tendency and uninspired judgments and many other issues like that. A lot of judges got to where they are not because of objective standard, but because of influence. In our nation, people who read, who worked hard will be pushed aside for the mediocrity. No nation can grow like that. And that is why our leaders from the top down to the bottom are low rated compared to their counterparts in other parts of the world.
Will this scenario inspire confidence in the judiciary in future elections?
It depends on what the Supreme Court does now. You must also appreciate that going back to the Supreme Court is also a challenge to the Supreme Court to do a thorough job in its judgments. Judgment should not be to merely resolve a problem, but to set standard for the future. That is why America will say our government must be a government of law and not of men.
Why did the Supreme Court make itself available in the first instance for these reviews?
The Supreme Court has no choice. Once something is filed before it, it has to listen to it. In our military constitution, there is no limit in terms of cases you can take to the Supreme Court. In some other climes, the Supreme Court will decide the kind of case it will take. But it is not so in Nigeria. You can appeal any case to the Supreme Court.
Then, what is the implication of all this to the growth of the nation’s democracy?
The implication is that our democracy is weak and un-assuring. It is not stable, it is not firm, it is not inspiring. And it is not only the problem of the leaders; it is also the problem of the people. Look at the level of education in Nigeria, very low. We are still not free from the burden of illiteracy. And that increases poverty. Look at how the North is today, people continue to produce children without any control. The Almajiris are all over the place. How do you expect that the Almajiris will not turn to Boko Haram? Of course, a child that has no future, no family, no hope will grab at every opportunity to hold gun and wreak havoc. And there you have an oligarchy system that pretends that everything is right.
What does the future hold for the country?
Under the present constitutional arrangement, the future is bleak. You cannot expect a nation that is living under a false constitution to make any progress. If Nigeria is going to make a progress, it will have to gather its people round the table and agree on the structure of government. Nigeria has no structure. So, how can you restructure a country that does not have a structure?
Now that the National Assembly is making a proposal to take another review of the constitution, can’t they make a workable document?
They are confused. The problem of the constitution is not the review. The problem of the constitution is illegitimacy because it didn’t carry the approbation of the people of Nigeria. Since they have doing review, has anything improved? Things have been getting worse and worse. If you want to govern under a constitution, I must agree to it. Nobody agreed to it. We must reduce central power considerably. This nation will look better with a confederal arrangement, which is more in tune with what we had in the First Republic before the military took over and then polluted justice and equity.