Defending the Courts

By Fred Igbeare

When US President Richard Nixon issued a simple command, he got a shocker in return.  His Attorney-General (AG) refused to fire the Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox!  AG Elliot Richardson bailed out instead.  Nixon ran into another wall in his next move.  Deputy AG William Ruckelshaus rejected the order and resigned too!  Oh, how we need men like these today in Nigeria!

Imagine Nigeria’s Bayo Ojo as Nixon’s AG?  What a scary thought!  To go by his record, our AG would have carried out Nixon’s command like a ‘good boy’.  And the US would have lost the Richardson and Ruckelshaus legacy.  These unwavering men stood on principles to make the American system stronger. 

By acquiescing to illegalities, men like Ojo are standing on quicksand to make the Nigerian system weaker. He is spearheading the government’s rejection of an Appeal Court ruling in the Oyo State governorship tussle. He makes you wonder if professionalism is becoming extinct in the Nigerian government.

The unfortunate reality is that we have too many self-serving public officials.  These people hang on desperately to their governmental privileges while shamelessly discarding their professional integrity. Their brazenness has led us to the dangerous situation in Oyo. With the courts taking such a bashing from executive disobedience, confidence in the Judiciary is being exposed to hazardous erosion.

When people lack confidence in the courts, violence becomes a more attractive option.  At its core, the Judiciary provides a forum for non-violent resolution of conflicts. By disobeying the courts, this government is planting seeds in Oyo and elsewhere to make Nigeria an even more violent society. An increased domination of politics by thugs is one inevitable outcome.

It would have been much better if the Federal government had reinstated Governor Rashidi Ladoja.  In disregarding the Appeal Court ruling, the government says it is awaiting the Supreme Court’s intervention.  This new-found deference to the Supreme Court is suspicious. 

We are dealing with a presidency described by former Chief Justice Muhammadu Uwais as having “a clear contempt” for the Supreme Court.  The Feds defied the Court’s ruling favoring Lagos State in the local government funds case.  Justice Uwais described that defiance as “illegal and unconstitutional” (TheNews, 19 June 2006).   Who says the presidency would now act differently in the Oyo case?

Justice Uwais lamented his inability to order the arrest of those flouting the Supreme Court’s ruling.  Well, that needn’t be so.  There are ways to get at such people after they leave office when immunity no longer applies.  If a law has to be created specifically for this purpose, so be it.  For the sake of peace, such a law is needed to strengthen the Judiciary.  

What is our priority?  If peace is what we want, and with rare exceptions, we have to obey our courts and fund them properly.  The value of increased judicial funding was echoed at a summit on Justice Sector Reforms convened by the current Chief Justice Alfa Belgore and others (ThisDay, 9 November 2006).  Delegates there agreed to a proposal by NBA President Olisa Agbakoba that they ‘go to President Obasanjo and demand that the Judiciary be well funded.’

Money does indeed make the wheels of justice go faster.  With more money, we could increase the quantity and quality of judges.  Their salaries should be among the highest in the land.  Indeed, well-paid judges may be less inclined to compromise with an overbearing executive or intrusive legislature.  That inclination would require effective financial insulation of the judiciary from other branches of government.

A key task for a financially strengthened judiciary would be to reduce the perennial court-room delays.  These slow-ups account mainly for the large number of Awaiting Trial Prisoners (ATPs).  Many powerless Nigerians continue to suffer in jail without being convicted of any crime. 

Supposedly innocent until proven guilty, many ATPs are held way past what the crimes call for. Equal to a denial of justice, these trial delays diminish people’s faith in the system.  Boosting that faith must take precedence in our efforts to improve and insulate the judiciary.

That insulation process should extend as well to the Attorney General offices nationwide.  Maybe we can make it easier for men like Ojo or others to do the right thing.  As many can attest, it is very hard to oppose your boss. Let’s give the budding Richardsons in our midst a helping hand.  A solution: elect all AGs!

If elected, the AGs would be freed from direct executive meddling and have more breathing space to perform professionally. I suggest we make their elections non-partisan. Only independent candidates—persons unaffiliated with any political party—should be allowed to contest. Of course, only lawyers would qualify. 

We cannot leave things as they are because AGs are such a critical part of the justice system. Their abuses of power can be very disruptive.  An example: the Dele Giwa murder case. 

Driven either by fear or greed, the then Lagos State AG did her best to frustrate Gani Fawehinmi’s private prosecution of state officials for Giwa’s murder.  She had her options clearly defined.  Prosecute the men or step aside for Fawehinmi do the job.  Instead she pretended to take up the case and deliberately botched the prosecution.

We have to think ahead.  The travesty of justice in Giwa’s case should not be allowed to recur.  Even if AGs get elected, the Giwa drama could replay itself: elected officials can be bribed or intimidated too.

We need to expand our options.  A solution: strengthen the right of private prosecution!  Its defects were revealed in the Giwa matter.  The Babangida regime had tampered with that right to cover up Giwa’s murder.  Yes, the same IBB who seeks the presidency today!

As in the Giwa case, government lawyers may not want to go after fellow officials.  A private lawyer can then step in to ensure that justice is done when the AGs develop ‘legal fever’.  A clear target for private prosecution would be those officials who abuse their immunity to flout court orders.  The fear of post-immunity prosecutions could decrease their bad behavior.

In the end, the task of solidifying the judicial system can be successful if more people show up for the work ahead.  Commitment to improving the system could come from a greater understanding of the critical need to protect our Judiciary from attacks that weaken it.  This is where the Press comes in to educate the public more.

A weaker Judiciary exposes us all, including those who are powerful today.  No condition is permanent, you know.  Ask those who fell from grace and must now contend with the same boots they used to step on lesser mortals!

We the people must rise up to defend the Judiciary.  Memo to fellow Nigerians: Stand against violence! Defend the courts!  Don’t just sit there and complain about thugs taking over Nigeria.  Do something!  Call somebody!  Collaborate!  Pressure the National Assembly into holding hearings!   Insist that government officials who disobey court orders be prosecuted!

Memo to the Supreme Court: Reject illegality! Endorse Governor Ladoja’s victory! Streamline the impeachment fires raging through the country!  It is quite within the people’s rights through their legislative representatives to fire ‘bad’ leaders.  But the constitution shouldn’t be trashed in the process.  The same questionable process can be used against ‘good’ leaders in Plateau, Anambra, Ekiti, Oyo and elsewhere. 

Let’s walk within the law to make desired changes which may even require changing the law.  We may yet make the system work as it should.  Let’s defuse this time-bomb before it blows up our dreams for a better Nigeria! 

(fredlintaz@yahoo.com)

Robot  Villager

# 1 Defending the Courts By Fred Igbeare When US Presid...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 14.11.2006 13:17

fredlintaz  Villager

# 2 Interesting: ThisDay, 26 November 2006: In its efforts at reforming and advancing the justice sector, the Federal Government has initiated nine Executive Bills for passage by the National Assembly. This development was made known yesterday in Abuja by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN), at a meeting of Attorneys-General. The bills are the Victims Rights Protection Bill, Elimination of Violence from Society Bill and that on reform of discriminatory laws against women. The Victims Rights Protection Bills, according to Ojo, is founded on the principle of restorative justice and is meant to seek better recognition and protection of the rights of victims of offences such as rape and robbery. He said that there would be a special fund for the benefits of victims of those offences. The Bill on elimination of violence from society, Ojo said, would cover all forms of violence with special attention to domestic violence. The Bill on Reform of discriminatory laws against women is aimed at promoting greater respect for the rights of women. Ojo said the Federal Government was in the process of engaging the National Assembly in a justice reform and development project to fast track the passage of the bills. Other bills include Administration of Criminal Justice Bill, Arbitration and ADR Reform Bill and Draft Bill for the Reform of the Law of Evidence. They also include the Legal Aid Reform Bill, Administration of Justice Commission Bill and the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 Enabling Instrument-Redrafted. Posted by fredlintaz| 21.11.2006 00:43