For God’s sake, let the spin doctors of Aso Villa tell Nigerians where the president is, his state of health and general condition. He is our president, father of the nation, voted for by majority of voting Nigerians, whether politically inclined or not. All these rumours, photoshops, explanations, ineffective liberal disquisitions, could be obliterated with a mere skype appearance to say, “fellow Nigerians, I will soon be with you. Thanks for your prayers”. IBB garnered national Risorgimento and empathy when he announced to a shocked nation that he was headed for a German hospital for radiculopathy (knee surgery). Only on July 15, 2016, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was away abroad when coupists struck. He used a mere Skype appearance to energise and rally his people against the insurgents, a faction of the Turkish Armed Forces, which had literally seized control of Istanbul and Ankara. Over 300 people were killed, over 2100 injured and over 40000, including 10000 soldiers were subsequently detained over the botched coup d’etat.
Presidential handlers have argued that it was PMB’s fundamental right as to whether or not to speak to Nigerians from London. They are dead wrong. From the 29th of May, 2015, when he took oath of office as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, he became public property. He lost his anonymity, individuality and exclusivity. His only privacy is in the “wife’s kitchen, his sitting room and the other room”. Politically, his absence and the foggy reasons for it, which have since inexplicably graduated from “vacation in London with routine medical check-up”, to one of sudden postponement of his arrival to a bewildered country, because PMB is now on “medical vacation”, do not help issues. Nigerians have not been told how long this “medical vacation” will take, or the nature of the ailment of our president that warrants “series of tests”. Government spokespersons unwittingly encourage the rumour mill to thrive and drive. Let it be made clear to government tenders here that these festering rumours, innuendos and conjectures befuddle already exasperated and cynical Nigerians, create avoidable tension and anxiety, simulate conspiracy theories, open up new vistas of discussions into the nature, extent and treatment of the president’s health and puts fragile Nigeria on unnecessary mutual suspicion and ethno-religious tenterhooks. Even in sickness, once it is not life-threatening, the president can, through few soothing words in Skype appearance, still energise Nigerians, serve as symbol of hope to the hopeless and give strength to the weak.
Let us rewind. A little bit of history here, lest we behave like the Bourbons of European history, who learned nothing and forgot nothing, so much so that even after the 1918 Treaty of Verssailes, the second world war still broke out with the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 2007, then President Obasanjo was vociferously campaigning for an obviously physically unfit Umaru Yar’dua. In his heavily accented Yoruba English, OBJ publicly called Yar’dua on the phone, saying “Umoru, are you dead or are you alive? Nigerians want to know this”. This was just a candidate of the ruling party, not the president.
How come now that when Nigerians rightly enquire about their president’s health, they are cheaply blackmailed by government with the vile allegation that they want their president dead? Even OBJ has surprisingly joined this fray. Why would Nigerians want their president dead? It is government merchants, who are behaving like witches and wizards in a coven that are unnecessarily stoking the embers of controversy. This was the same group Dora Akunyili, former information minister, famously referred to as the cabal.
Presidential handlers don’t know when to use such an auspicious opportunity as this to notch up mileages of good will. First, missing Chibok girls. Then, missing budget. Do we now say “missing president”? We pray for President Buhari to regain his health, reclaim his vigour and reestablish his energy. He is, but a mere mortal. As a septuagenarian, over 74 years, he can fall ill. No one doubts this. So, let Aso Villa genuflectors not deify PMB with super human, supernatural and omnipotent powers. He does not possess them. For, he is not God. May God grant President Buhari quick recovery. Amen.
Justice Walter Onnoghen: To be or not to be? (Part 2)
Recap
Last week, we started a discourse on Justice Walter Onnoghen: To be or not to be? This week, we shall continue and conclude same.
Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed, JSC, who presided and read the lead judgment of the Supreme Court, in his contribution in the case of Elelu Habeeb vs A.G Federation (supra), succinctly dilated thus:
“It is quite plain from the provisions of paragraph 21, sub paragraphs (c) and (d) of part 1 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, that the National Judicial Council is the body that has been assigned the duty and responsibility of recommending to the governors of the states of the federation suitable persons for the appointment to the offices of Chief Judges of the states and other judicial officers in the states. Therefore, from these very clear provisions of the constitution, which are very far from being ambiguous, the governors of the states and the Houses of Assembly of the states cannot exercise disciplinary control, touching the removal of Chief Judges of states or other officers in the state.”
This tripartite sharing of power is in sync with the doctrine of separation of powers. Neither the president nor the senate can add to, subtract from, alter, amend, dilute or circumscribe the clear and unambiguous provisions of Section 231 (3), which prescribes Onnoghen’s required qualification as being “qualified to practise as a legal practitioner in Nigeria and has been so qualified for a period of not less than 15 years”. They can also not import into the constitution, non-existent factors, such as “high moral character and proven integrity”, as provided for in Articles 144 (2) and 128 (4) of the 1992 Ghanaian Constitution.
In interpreting Articles 125 (4) and 144 (6) of the Ghana Constitution, which are in pari-materia with sections 230 and 231 (4) of the Nigerian Constitution respectively, in the case of Ghana Bar Association & ors vs. The A-G, Ghana & ors, the Ghanaian Supreme Court held that:
“It must be emphasised that no appointment can be made by the president to the Supreme Court without a recommendation to that effect by the Judicial Council pursuant to which the appointment can be made…. after the approval of parliament under Article 144 (2)… Therefore, a simple, ordinary and common sense reading of these provisions indicates that the president must, at all cost, have this advice from the Judicial Council and if he does not have this advice, the appointment of the justices will not be valid. My understanding, however, is that if these bodies did not recommend a particular candidate or nominee, the president cannot go behind that advice to appoint someone else…” This is in tandem with the Nigerian constitutional reality.
Nigerians are greatly worried by this smouldering degradation, humiliation, oppression and indignity to which the judiciary is being subjected, especially with a president’s spokesman openly saying Onnoghen’s acting capacity is “subject to probation, and if he did well, the president will act appropriately.” Good God! A Chief Justice of Nigeria on probation? No one knows the examination Onnoghen is expected to pass during his “probation”, from which he would be assessed to have done well, before being appointed. Who sets this examination, or whether there are pre-examination tutorials and course work, we are not told.
I hereby humbly call on President Buhari to immediately forward Onnoghen’s name to the senate for confirmation in accordance with section 231 (1) of the constitution. Where he refuses to do this, let me give Nigerians the good news, that all hope is not lost. This is because section 231 (4), under which the president had sworn in Onnoghen in an acting capacity, must be read together with section 231 (5). Under section 231 (5), Onnoghen can only vacate office if the NJC decides not to further recommend him to the president for re-appointment in an acting capacity, a most unlikely scenario from an NJC presided over by the self same Onnoghen. The said section 231 (5) provides:
“Except on the recommendation of the NJC, an appointment pursuant to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section shall cease to have effect after the expiration of three months from the date of such appointment and the president shall not re-appoint a person whose appointment has lapsed.” Read inversely from the end to the beginning, section 231 (5) is merely saying that the president shall reappoint an acting CJN (Onnoghen), whose term has lapsed after three months, “on the recommendation of the NJC.” This then means that the NJC under the chairmanship of the same Acting CJN can again recommend Onnoghen to the president, still in an acting capacity. There is no bar or limit as to how many times this can be done. Recall that Justice Dalhatu Adamu acted on three consecutive occasions of three months each, as acting President of the Court of Appeal, before Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa was later appointed as substantive president. Even the said Bulkachuwa had also acted for some months before her confirmation and appointment.
The question, however is, why do we need to go through this avoidable labyrinthine and tortuous procedure, when all that the president needs do is to simply forward Onnoghen’s name to the senate for confirmation? Why do we specialise in distracting controversies? Must government politicise every and any issue? Does true governance not begin after politicking?
This is one instance PMB must rise up as father of the nation and become totally impervious to tribal, religious, ethnic, cultural and political nuances, by appointing Onnoghen immediately as the “most senior Justice of the Supreme Court.” (Section 231 (2). Onnoghen has worked hard; served his country well; lived above board; and paid his dues. What more do we want from him? His blood? No. Let Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen be. (Concluded)
Protest is a Constitutional right
I hear the Police blowing hot and cold over Tuface Idibia’s planned organised mass protest. Whether it is Tuface or any other Nigerian, the right to protest is constitutionally guaranteed (See Section 38, 39, 40 and 41 of the 1999 Constitution). To be continued.
Thought for the week
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” -Elie Wiesel