It is no longer news that the Speaker of The Federal House of Assembly, Aminu Tambuwal, has since defected to the All Progressives Congress(APC).In this viewpoint, I want to make a case that the PDP must be ferocious and undiminished in the struggle to flush Alhaji Waziri Tambuwal out of the House of Representatives. This agenda must be vigorously pursued with an unwavering and undiminished intensity. It is the height of idiocy and Judas Iscariotism for a person who was brought from the doldrums of obscurity to his present level of sublimity/prominence via the platform of PDP to manifest this level of ingratitude and perfunctory approach to issues that affect both the Constitution as well as his political party(the PDP). The battle to extricate the House of Representatives(HoR) from the fascist and hegemonic stranglehold of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and his cohorts must be pursued with undiminished intensity even, if it will culminate in the predicted 2015 demise of this our ever – fledgling and ever- nascent democracy.
No stone should be left unturned in the war to flush Tambuwal out of the House of Representatives. It is the lethargy and docility of the PDP that encourage members of the PDP to act without giving a damn to the provisions of the Constitution. The PDP has been too lenient in the area of addressing impunity among its members hence the like of Tambuwal is now daring the party. For example, the Speaker of Imo State of Assembly, Hon Ben Uwajumogu, defected from the PDP to APGA(the governors party at the time) on the very first day he was sworn into office on 6th June,2011; yet, as we speak, the PDP in Imo State has not been able to sack Hon Uwajumogu from the House, even though Section 109(1)(g) of the 2011 Constitution is very clear on the penalty consequent upon such act. Virtually all the PDP members in the Imo State House of Assembly have either defected to the APC now or they are surrogates to Governor Okorocha’s new party-All Progressives Congress(APC); yet, the Imo State PDP is unable to get a court order to declare their seats vacant. This is the reason that the like of Waziri Tambuwal have the courage to defect to another party, even when he is said to be a lawyer. This Waziri Tambuwal is a disgrace to democracy and to the legal profession. He must be reported to the Disciplinary Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) for appropriate sanctions..
Loading ...In fact, I am not against the defection of Waziri Tambuwal to any party of his choice; it’s part of our Constitution. But I would have expected a person at his level in politics to have the courage to quietly resign not only as Speaker but even as member of the House of Representatives in line with Section 68(1)(g) of the 2011 Constitution. The Section says inter alia”…(1)A member of the Senate or of House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if …(g) being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected”.There is no ambiguity in this simple requirement, more so, since a court had once held that there is no faction in the PDP. Recall the judgment of court in regard to the 37 shameless lawmakers of the House of Representatives((HoR) who defected to the All Peoples Congress(APC). There are certain violations of any Constitution that do not need a court pronouncement to know what to do. On such occasions, the appropriate action takes automatic effect by operation of law. This is why in the UAC VS Macfoy LTD(1963) suit, the revered Jurist, Lord Denning, held :”If an act is void, there is in law a nullity. It is not only bad but incurably bad. There is no need for an order of Court to set it aside. It is automatically null and void without much ado, though it is sometimes convenient to have the court declare it to be so. And every proceeding which is founded on it is also bad and incurably bad. You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stay there. It will collapse”. Lord Denning actually had the like of Tambuwal in mind when he made that epic citation. Again, it is this kind of barefaced breach of the Constitution/law that impels most judicial officers to end their judgments with the now famous Latin maxim :”Fiat Justitia ruat coelum” which means: Let justice be done even if the heavens fall.”
Lord Denning is a revered mathematician -turned Jurist who is one of the most cited jurists/legal luminaries of all time. What Lord Denning is saying is that in a case such as the Alhaji Waziri Tambuwal abdication of power, the operation of law must swiftly take effect. It does not need any unnecessary court litigations and interminable adjournments. It’s the same as what happens when a serving Head of State or Governor drops out of office without completing his tenure. On such occasion, the Vice President or Deputy Governor automatically takes over the reins of power by operation of law. It is not necessary to ask the Supreme Court or any court to make a pronouncement on what should be done. This is exactly the same with the Tambuwal saga. The Constitution stipulates that Aminu Tambuwal should lose his membership of the House and this penalty must not be compromised.
It is pertinent to state that there is a similarity between the ongoing suit in the Alhaji Tambuwal Tambuwal episode and the court judgment which (on Nov 10th,1993?) declared Ernest Shonekan’s Interim National Council (INC) illegal. In order to justify my stand, I will now go ahead and provide further details on the Court Judgment which declared Shonekan-led Interim National Council (INC) illegal. We shall also see the similarities in that epic case to the ongoing Tambuwal episode. What happened was that the Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party(SDP) in the annulled June 12th, 1993 Presidential election in Nigeria, Chief M.K.O.Abiola, and his running mate, Ambassador Gana Kingibe, had gone to court to challenge the cancellation or annulment of the election which was believed to have been won by the late Chief M.K.O.Abiola. Chief Abiola and Baba Gana Kingibe sought a seven-point declaration by the court to the effect that:
(1)The INC Decree 61 of 1993 which created the Interim National Council (INC) is null and void;
(2)Decree 59 of 1993 extinguished General Ibrahim Babangida’s powers to promulgate Decree 61;
(3)Decree 61 does not empower anybody to appoint Shonekan as Head of State and Commander -in-Chief of the Armed Forces;
(4)The secretaries appointed on August 26th, 1993 and sworn in by Shonekan were not validly appointed;
(5)Shonekan and his secretaries should be restrained from parading themselves as Head of State and Secretaries respectively;
(6) A declaration that the 1989 Constitution came into effect August 26th, and finally;
(7)A declaration that only a person duly elected as President, pursuant to the Presidential election, held in accordance with the provisions of transition to Civil Rule(political programme)Act CAP 443 laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990 can lawfully exercise executive powers of the federation under the 1989 Constitution.
Delivering judgment on the suit, Justice Dolapo Funlola Akinsanya traced the history of Babangida Administration which derived its executive and legislative powers from Decree 1 of 1984.She noted that Decree 1 of 1984 was however killed by Decree 59 of 1993 which reads: “The Constitution(suspension and modification) Decree 1984 as amended is hereby suspended”. She further held that this Decree may be cited as the “ Constitution(Suspension and modification, repeal)Decree 1993”.
HON. Justice Dolapo Akinsanya held that having signed Decree 59, Babangida became divested of legislative powers, and thus could not have proceeded to sign the ING Decree 61 of 1993. It was at this point she cited the aforementioned Lord Denning’s ageless maxim quotation which states thus:” Any purported exercise of any function, being without any legal or constitutional authority(is) null and void and of no effect…….” Concluding her judgment, Hon Justice Akinsanya then thundered in Latin: “Fiat justitia, ruat coelum” which means ”Let Justice be done, even though the heavens fall. “She made this threat because it was rumoured that the military junta at the time had threatened to be ruthless on her if she went ahead to declare the Shonekan -led INC illegal. Again, She might have been encouraged by the epic statement of the revered U.S President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who in his first inaugural address to U.S citizens who were ravaged by economic depression said:”…So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” So, in spite of the threats from the leaders of the military junta, Justice Dolapo Akinsanya took the decision to declare the Shonekan-led INC illegal and heavens did not fall. It was this judgment that caused General Sani Abacha to topple the Ernest Shonekan- led INC on November 17th, 1993 and declared himself Head of State.
It is pertinent to state that in his book entitled:” entitled “Law and Legal Process” , an academic and Law Professor, Uba Nnabue, gave some insight into the origin of the Latin quotation. Hear Professor Uba Nnabue: “…….What happened on that occasion was that Piso sentenced a soldier to death for the murder of one Gaius and ordered a centurion to execute the sentence. When the soldier was about to be executed, Gaius came forward alive and well. The centurion in good conscience felt there was no need to execute the sentence, since the premise is now faulted. Hence, he went to his master, the King (Piso), and reported the new development- that Gaius was alive and not murdered.
In the name of justice, Piso immediately sentenced all three to death for the following reasons: the soldier, because he had already been sentenced to death(apparently, as it is now revealed – for doing nothing), the centurion, for disobeying orders (the execution of a man who did nothing and was condemned in error), and Gaius for being the cause of the death of two innocent men. Piso then excused his action by the plea-: “Fiat justitia, ruat coelum.”
ERNEST SHONEKAN: The pertinent question is :”Should Ernest Shonekan whose administration (INC) was declared illegal be a member of the National Council of State? It is this kind of perfunctory approach to the enforcement of the stipulations of our Constitution that encourages the like of Alhaji Tambuwal to dare the Constitution, even though he is said to be a lawyer. The answer to this question goes beyond this topic; it will be discussed elsewhere. But what do you think?
Reccommendation: It is my candid opinion that what is at stake is the interpretation of the Constitution.I advise the PDP to refer this matter to the Supreme Court where it will be handled with dispatch/business-like promptitude. This matter should not be handled by the regular courts because time is of the essence. The Supreme Court of Nigeria has been very timely and sagacious in handling such issues that border on the interpretation of the Constitution. The Supreme Court resolved the Constitutional issue of tenure when it handled Governor Peter Obi’;s suit which sought clarification on whether the INEC was right in conducting election into the Anambra Governorship office in 2007 even while his tenure was still running,- having been sworn into office on March 17th, 2006.In the epic judgment which was read by Katsina-Alu, the panel of Supreme Court judges were unanimous when they ruled inter alia:”…..There being no dispute on the fact that plaintiff /appellant took his oath of allegiance and oath of office on 17th March 2006, his term of office will expire on 17th March, 2006…..” That judgment was delivered on Thursday, 14th June, 2007.As a result of this landmark judgment, the PDP governorship candidate, Andy Uba, who was sworn into office on May 29TH, 2007 as governor was declared a rogue governor and immediately sacked thus making him the governor that served the shortest tenure of 17 days in Nigeria and perhaps in most parts of the world. Another rogue governor, DR.Chris Ngige, had also illegally served 33 months as governor of Anambra State before he was sacked by the Court of Appeal in Enugu. Both Tambuwal and DR, Chris Ngige are chieftains of the All Progressives Alliance(APC).Little wonder the maxim: ”Birds of a feather flock together”.
Again, we saw another landmark judgment from the Supreme Court in the Rotimi Amaechi Vs INEC/Celestine Omehia/PDP in the aftermath of the governorship election of 2007.In that suit, the Supreme Court even granted a relief that was not sought by Governor Amaechi. In his lead judgment ,Katsina –Alu held: “It is my belief that the candidate for the PDP at the election was the appellant(i.e. Amaechi).His name was unlawfully removed. In the eyes of the law, he remained the candidate and this court must treat him as such. My view is that it was the appellant (Amaechi) and not the 2nd respondent(Celestine Omehia) who must be deemed to have won the election…….It is ordered that the 2nd respondent, Celestine Omehia, vacate the seat of governor of Rivers State immediately and that the appellant be forthwith sworn into office. I will give my reasons for the judgment on 18/1/2008.I make no order as to costs.”
All in all, it is my advice that the regular courts are too sluggish and docile to handle this suit. Very soon, the Judges will give all manner of weird interlocutory and “extralocutory” adjournments which will render the case useless. One does not need to be a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN) to argue this suit. The relevant section of the Constitution: Section 68 (1)(g) is clear and unambiguous. If the words used in a Statute are clear, why should anyone try to read meanings that render the section ambiguous. In compliance with Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution, Dishonourable Tambuwal lost his membership of the House of Representatives(HoR), by operation of law at the point he declared his defection to the APC. Since he is no longer a member of the HoR, the talk of whether he should still become Speaker is unnecessary and nebulous; it’s a hocus pocus, a jiggery pockery.
While welcoming some foreign visitors who paid a courtesy call on her as the then Speaker, of the HoR, Hon Etteh said: ”I am glad to welcome these strangers to this Hollow House”. Hon. Etteh was a good student of Mrs. Malaprop and she never disappointed the disciples of MALAPROPISM. She actually wanted “to welcome these guests to this Hallowed House.” Aminu Tambuwal should no longer desecrate the Hallowed Hall of the HoR , unless , of course, the HoR is a Hollow House as was once described by Speaker Patricia Etteh. Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal has brought both the National Assembly and the Law Profession to public opprobrium and obloquy. He should be dragged to the Disciplinary Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) for appropriate disciplinary sanction for his bare-faced breach of Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution. Hon Tambuwal is one of the political Judas Iscariots in the political terrain of Nigeria who look with disdain and contempt the base heights through which they climbed to power. They must be ruthlessly dealt with in order to deter future political dissidents who are watching the shame of Tambuwal with keen interest.
In any genuine democracy, the Constitution is the Summum Bonum(the common good) and nobody should be above the law. It is sad that Alhaji Waziri Tambuwal as well as his cohorts and sponsors appears to be one of the surviving vestiges of the brain wave that some people in this country are born to rule. He appears to be a fanatical student of Prince Niccolo Machiavelli who posited the theory of “the end justifies the means. “As stated above, nobody is quarrelling with his defection to APC, after all, it’s a happy riddance to bad rubbish. His defection to APC has let in a whiff of fresh air into an erstwhile asphyxiated political environment in Nigeria. He is very free to be the Speaker of the Sokoto Empire; he can be the Speaker Emeritus of his new party, APC), or even the Boko Haram Group. But he will never ever go back to preside over the affairs of the Federal House of Representatives(HoR) when it reconvenes on the 3rd December, 2014. As for the courts, we must stress that what is at stake is the so-called indivisibility and indissolubility of the Nigerian nation. It goes beyond political rhetoric, jingoism and sloganeering. So, what we desire on this suit is substantive justice.WHERE the lower couret are in doubt, they should refer the matter to the Suppreme Court for adjudication and substantive justice. At this point, I wish to join King PISO to scream: “Fiat justitia, ruat coelum.”
All in all, I wish to state emphatically that in spite of real or perceived shortcomings, Nigeria is not practising a Mobocracy; it’s not practising an OCHLOCRACY, Nigeria is practising a philosophy of government called “Democracy” and any attempt by any group to take Nigeria back to the Hobbesian State of Nature where life is short, nasty and brutish will be stoutly resisted even though it may culminate in the much -hyped disintegration of Nigeria in 2015.
John Mgbe
johnmgbe@yahoo.com
