The recent statement by President Muhammadu Buhari that the judiciary has been his main headache in the fight against corruption is generating mixed reactions from different quarters. JONATHAN NDA-ISAIAH writes.
Imagine this scenario: in a most brazen manner never witnessed before, a public officer who is trusted with public funds converts the money to his own personal ward. He gets arrested, but alas, due process must be followed in a democratic setting before justice is meted out to him! The accused is taken to court, the case suffers series of adjournment upon adjournment till the case loses steam. In what seems like the speed of lightening, four years elapse, signalling a change of government and the culprit is let off the hook by the new regime which is rather indifferent to a matter they know little or nothing about.
And for those of you who require more than one illustration, check this out: a public officer embezzles public funds that would last for a lifetime for him and his family, including his generation yet unborn. He gets arrested, but uses the money to hire the best of lawyers whose job is to scream ‘due process must be followed’ rather than argue his case based on facts and point of law, forgetting that when the accused was looting the nation’s treasury, due process was thrown to the winds. The case takes longer than necessary due to strict adherence to rule of law, and at the end of the day, the looter goes scot free.
The above instances aptly depict the headache President Muhammadu Buhari says he suffers from in his quest to fight corruption to a standstill in Nigeria. According to the president, there must be reforms in the judiciary for the country to make headway in the fight against corruption.
Speaking at a town hall meeting with Nigerians living in Ethiopia last weekend during the African Union Summit, the president said far-reaching reforms of the judiciary remain a key priority for the present administration.
His words, “On the fight against corruption vis-à-vis the judiciary, Nigerians will be right to say that is my main headache for now.”
“If you reflect on what I went through for 12 years when I wanted to be the president, I attempted three times and on the fourth attempt through God and the use of technology, it was possible for Nigerians to elect an APC candidate as president.”
“In my first attempt in 2003, I ended up at the Supreme Court and for 13 months, I was in court. The second attempt in 2007, I was in court for close to 20 months and in 2011, my third attempt, I was also in court for nine months.”
“All these cases went up to the Supreme Court until the fourth time in 2015, when God agreed that I would be president of Nigeria.”
President Buhari assured members of the Nigerian community that with the support of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, he will continue to do his best to improve the nation’s judicial administration system.
President Buhari’s fight against corruption so far has elicited praise and condemnation in equal measure. Some Nigerians have praised the president’s zeal and determination to reduce corruption to the barest minimum in the country while some have accused the president of being selective and only hounding opposition members in the anti- graft war.
The president’s statement has elicited reactions from various quarters with some pundits advising the president to show some respect and that there is a need to understand the independence of the Judiciary as according to arguments, the three arms of government are independent of one another, hence the most cherished principle of Separation of Powers.
Speaking exclusively to LEADERSHIP Friday, Constitutional Lawyer, Human Rights Activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome disagreed with President Buhari’s assertions that the judiciary is a clog in the wheel in the anti- corruption war but said that rather, the judiciary has always been the beacon of hope, the last hope of the common man, even during military juntas and despotic rule.
He said, “The judiciary has in-built mechanisms for tackling corruption within its fold, through the NJC. It has always used it to winnow out the chaffs.”
“The president should not mistake the messenger for the message. If the judiciary gives him headache, it is the laws of the land and not the operators, such as judges, that he should quarrel with. After all, how many judges have been indicted in the last 16 years? What he needs to do is to take urgent steps to amend the constitution and other laws which he feels, are inhibiting his anti-corruption drive.”
“At the end of the day, the anti-corruption war must be fought within the organogram and precincts of Nigerian laws that give an accused person a right to fair trial by an impartial, fearless and unintimidated judiciary, that is respected and left alone to do list work.”
Keen observers of the polity say that the president should respect the independence of the Judiciary and should not in any circumstance abdicate its responsibilities to the Executive, warning that doing the biddings of the president, is an invitation to anarchy.
It’s a general consensus among Nigerians that corruption must be fought to a standstill for Nigeria to move forward. Daily tales of how former public officials, trusted with the nation’s treasury have plundered the country dry in the past have been in the public domain with some Nigerians expressing shock by the level of impunity of some public officials.
On its own part, the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have also condemned President Buhari over his comments on the nation’s judiciary.
The PDP called on the judiciary, “as the last hope of the common man”, to continue to assert its independence and not allow itself to be deterred from upholding justice and the rule of law, no matter the pressure.
The acting national chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, who spoke during the inauguration of the Imo State caretaker committee, said the judicial community and in fact, all discerning Nigerians, were shocked by the release by the presidency on Sunday wherein President Muhammadu Buhari was quoted to have described the judiciary as the “major headache” of his administration.
He said, “This statement is a direct affront on the statutorily guaranteed independence of the judiciary and more worrisome is the fact that a President of a country had to tie back already settled judgments of the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, in cases involving him, as a benchmark of his assessment of the institution of the judiciary at the moment.”
PDP said the remarks by the president was intended to blackmail and stampede the judiciary to deliver judgments against the PDP in various pending cases involving the party and some of its leaders in the courts.
The opposition party urged the judiciary to ensure that it adequately guards its flanks from all external influences and also cautioned the executive to focus on governance, while respecting the constitutionally guaranteed principle of separation of powers by allowing the judiciary and the legislature indeed, all statutory arms of government to freely operate within the bounds provided by our laws.
Going forward, President Buhari has been advised by some cross section of Nigerians not to throw away the rule of law in the fight against corruption as no nation can make progress without the rule of law.
Many Nigerians have called on the Federal government to create special courts to try corruption cases or have a maximum number of days that a court can try corruption cases. As according to them, the judiciary as presently constituted may bungle the anti-graft war of the president.
The thinking is that the Dasukigate scandal, which has dominated the media waves in the last few weeks, may just turn out to be a circus and media trial if there are no judiciary reforms and the case is allowed to linger on for months and weeks. Alternatively, pundits have called for guided due process so that corruption will be concluded in record time and that it will not take the next 10 years to conclude because of one adjournment after another.
Take for instance, the case of former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who was discharged and acquitted by a federal high court in Nigeria but the same evidence was used to prosecute him at a court in the United Kingdom .A classic case of the judiciary bungling a case.
It’s worthy to note that some laws in the country have not been amended for the past 50 years. Political observers have laid the blame on lawmakers who have not done anything to amend some obsolete laws in the country, accusing the legislature of only being interested in their jumbo pays and enriching themselves. The National Assembly has been called upon to rise up to the challenge of the fight against corruption.
Reacting to the allegations that the National Assembly is not making enough laws or strengthening existing laws in the fight against corruption, chairman, Senate Committee on Media, Senator Abdullahi Sabi (Niger, APC) said the Senate is doing its uttermost best to give Nigerians laws that will aide in the president’s fight against corruption.
Speaking exclusively to LEADERSHIP Friday, Senator Sabi assured that the 8th Senate would be a different Senate, bills have been prioritised with a bill on Anti-corruption on the front burner.
He lamented that even existing laws on corruption have not been complied with, adding that when the rule of law is given, it must be complied with.
The Senate spokesman blamed institutional failures for the cause of corruption in the country, adding that the Senate is taking a holistic approach in the fight against corruption.
He also said every Nigerian has a role to play in the anti-graft war, saying the legislature and judiciary should not be seen as the culprits, adding that the blame game should stop.
Senator Sabi assured that the Senate is doing its uttermost best to promote good governance; welfare of Nigerians and make laws that will aide in the fight against corruption .
For the president to succeed in his fight against corruption, there must be a synergy between the executive, legislature and judiciary. Will President Buhari succeed in his quest? Only time will tell.
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