The Nation Newspaper

Category: Lawal Ogienagbon

  • Moving on

    IT IS all over. The presidential race ended early yesterday when Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu declared  Muhammadu Buhari winner of Saturday’s election. His closest rival Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had yet to congratulate him at the time of writing this. Will he do so or will he and his party challenge the All Progressives Congress (APC) standard-bearer’s victory at the tribunal?

    Our country is the winner in the just-concluded presidential and National Assembly elections. There is no loser even though many lost their bid for offices. Better luck to them next time. The polls went smoothly in many parts of the country, though there were pockets of skirmishes here and there. The clashes were not enough to write off the exercise. If they were, the observers, who came from different parts of the world, would have said so.

    The elections may not have gone the way that some expected. Indeed, many giants fell by the way side. These are heavyweights who determine how elections go in their domains. But they lost because nothing is certain in an election until the last ballot is counted. What makes elections tick is the uncertainty about their outcome. Candidates go to the polls counting on their popularity to win.

    An astute politician knows that without a large following, winning an election is impossible because it is a contest of numbers.  Having a large following is one thing, getting this huge number to vote for you  is another. On many occasions, many  popular politicians went to the polls certain of victory, only for the results to show otherwise. Winning an election demands tact and strategy. Experts use these qualities to map out their plans on how to win votes.

    Such a plan is subject to many factors, chief of which, is the turn out of voters. We are in a society where apathy is rife. People usually register as voters, but will never turn out to vote on election day. It happened in last Saturday’s elections. We have over 84 million people on the voter register, with over 72 million said to  have collected their permanent voter cards (PVCs).  But how many of the 72,775,502 voters came out to cast their ballot last Saturday? 29,364,209 were accredited to vote; 28,614,190 cast their votes – going by the results released by INEC for the presidential poll. 27,324,583 were valid votes; 1,289,607 were rejected. Buhari scored 15,191,847 to Atiku’s 11,262,978. The 71 other contestants shared the remaining 869,758 votes among themselves..

    With the presidential election won and lost, the shape of the Ninth National Assembly is also emerging. Many popular senators who sought re-election were beaten hands down at the polls. Senate President Bukola Saraki is not returning to the Red Chamber having been defeated by Senator-elect Ibrahim Oloriegbe. Senators Godswill Akpabio and George Akume also lost in Akwa Ibom and Benue states.

    These politicians were expected to have an easy ride over their opponents, but they lost. How are the mighty fallen? If anyone had said these political juggernauts will lose before the election, that person would have been dismissed as talking nonsense. Their loss has shown that anything can happen in a political contest. In their states, these people are revered. They are treated as godfathers because of their powers to make and unmake politicians. Here they are today, battered, bloodied and bruised in a contest they were expected to show their strength in their sphere of influence.

    Their loss should make them realise that they are not god even though they are referred to as godfathers. Their loss does not mean that they are not strong. They are strong in their own right, but their loss is God’s way of humbling them. Nobody wants to be on the losing side. The PDP has been griping about the outcome of the polls. It has on several occasions rejected the results, hinting that it may go to the tribunal. The party knows in truth and in fact that the elections  met the standard of a free and fair exercise. PDP has a right to complain and it has exercised that right, but having done that it should put the country’s interest first in whatever it plans to do.

    Should it challenge the poll outcome just because it did not win? Is it complaining because it truly believes that it was cheated at the polls? Will it also contest the outcome in areas where it won? Can the elections only be credible in places where it won?  If it feels it has a case, it should go to the tribunal; if not, it should lay the matter to rest and wait for the next election. Whatever it chooses to do, it should reflect deeply before it acts. The nation cannot afford to play into the hands of those that do not wish it well. There can never be two winners in a contest. There can only be one winner.  Atiku put up a good showing, but his performance was not good enough to earn him the coveted seat.

    Nothing good will be achieved by overheating the polity over the outcome of the election. Our country is the winner in this contest because of the peaceful way the contestants conducted themselves. This is how it should be. I pray that we sustain this peaceful nature and also extend it to the March 9 governorship and House of Assembly elections.

  • The wages of rigging

    IF the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had got its act right, we would have put the presidential and National Assembly elections behind us by now. But things did not work out the way the electoral umpire envisaged. INEC had proposed that the presidential and National Assembly elections hold on February 16 and those of the governorship and House of Assembly on March 2. Man proposes, God disposes, so goes the saying. Things did not work out, according to INEC’s plan.

    Its Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, attended by some party leaders, presidential candidates, foreign and domestic observers, among others, was hard pressed explaining why he postponed the elections around 2 a.m., on Saturday, some six hours before the polls were to open nationwide. He insinuated that the commission’s efforts were sabotaged by unknown elements. How did he arrive at his sabotage theory?

    Hear him : “In a space of two weeks, we had to deal with serious fire incidents in three of our offices in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State; Qu’an Pan Local Government Area of Plateau State and the Anambra State headquarter in Awka”. Nobody expected the postponement of the general elections at that eleventh hour. The impression Yakubu created before his sudden volte face was that everything was going on well. He repeatedly assured the nation that INEC was on course. So, it came as a shock to his countrymen when he postponed the elections at the ungodly hour of two o’clock in the morning last Saturday. The polls will now hold on Saturday and March 9.

    The postponement was bound to happen, the only problem was that Yakubu, despite being the head of INEC, did not see the handwriting clearly on the wall as it stared him in the face. If he had moved swiftly to shift the polls when INEC’s facilities were gutted by fire, the nation may have seen reason with him. But he shot himself in the foot when he did so after he had assured the nation that neither the fires nor any other man-made disaster could stop the elections from holding as scheduled. He was resolute about holding the elections on the fixed date and time. This was why he was not ready to allow such a ‘small incident’ as fire which destroyed permanent voter cards (PVCs) and Smart Card Readers (SCRs) to stop him from going ahead with the exercise.

    No doubt, the Prof would have learnt one or two things about public administration and management from what happened. How free and fair will the elections, which he is so determined to conduct, be? Will those who see election rigging as part of the game allow the process to go smoothly? Our elections are acrimonious because of blatant rigging. Many politicians, whether in or out of office, engage in it. No matter how popular they may be, they feel that if they do not back it up with rigging, the other party may get the better of them at the polls.

    Elections are not supposed to be rigged. Candidates are expected to contest and win on the strength of their popularity. Unfortunately, popularity does not win elections in this clime, rigging does. Many would have perfected the art of rigging last Saturday’s elections before they were postponed. The postponement has given INEC a golden opportunity to tie loose ends. The commission is lucky as the postponement has borne a good seed. President Muhammadu Buhari, who is visibly angry over how INEC, “which got everything it required for the polls”, handled matters, has weighed in to warn those planning to rig.

    The President wants a free and fair election. This much, he said, at the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus meeting in Abuja on Monday to review the polls postponement. The way he spoke showed his state of mind about the deferred polls. It was a clear cut warning to all to allow the people’s vote count. If anybody does otherwise, he will be playing with fire, the President said.

    “Anybody who decides to snatch ballot boxes or lead thugs to disturb the process, may be that will be the last unlawful action you will take…So, I want to warn anybody who thinks he has enough influence in his locality to lead a body of thugs to snatch ballot boxes or disturb the voting system, he will do it at the expense of his life”. The President’s statement has created a storm, with some people tagging it “a licence to kill”. To me, it is not. He made the statement with good intentions. Are those criticising him, saying that ballot box snatchers should be allowed free rein? The President did not ask that riggers be summarily killed. No, he merely warned them about the consequences of their action.

    Put another way, are Buhari’s critics saying the people should turn a blind eye when they see ballot box snatchers at work? For long, the system has treated riggers  with kid gloves, thereby creating room for them to thrive. Thus, they will tell you confidently that without voting, their candidate would win. Our elections should no longer be decided on the dictate of ballot box snatchers and their masters. It is time to rise against them as the President said. Perhaps, this may be the beginning of the cleansing of our electoral process.

  • The die is cast

    IN 48 hours, we will go to the polls to elect our president from the large crowd of candidates seeking to occupy the exalted seat. President Muhammadu Buhari is leading the pack of candidates. The President is seeking re-election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Closely following on his heels is former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Pundits have since reduced the election to a two-horse race between Buhari and Atiku. They have written off the other candidates, who they have been referring to as also-rans, even before the election holds. To the pundits, it is a two-horse race because the duo are tested politicians, who have been in the corridors of power for long,  and also count among their associates money bags and other influential people that can swing things in their favour.

    What they lack in charisma and finesse, they have in abundance in their connections within and outside the country. Even the outside world also sees the election as a race between Buhari and Atiku. This is why external comments have always been on what relates to these leading candidates. They latch on to whatever either side says about the election, using it to implore us to conduct a free, fair and credible election. I do not like it when foreign powers try to dictate to us how to run our democracy because they have not really been shining examples when it comes to that.

    With what has been happening in the United States (US) since the election which brought President Donald Trump to power, we cannot say that his country is a perfect example of what a democracy should be. But we cannot discountenance what the US, the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) are saying, no matter how imperfect their own systems may be. As bad as things may be in their countries and continents when it comes to democracy, we should credit them for their ability to manage things well without resorting to bloodshed.

    The world is afraid of our impending elections because their outcome may result in violence. Violence because of one side’s refusal not to accept defeat if it loses. It is only in Africa that elections are treated as war. A do-or-die. But should it be so? The answer, of course, is no. So, we know where the foreign powers are coming from when they don their high hat and tell us how to conduct elections. We brought it upon ourselves because of our politicians penchant for winning at all costs. They do not see elections for the contest they are. Like every contest, there must be a winner and a loser and the beauty of it is for the loser to accept defeat, congratulate the winner and life goes on thereafter.

    The February 16 presidential and National Assembly elections will kick start the general polls, which will be rounded off on March 2, with the governorship and House of Assembly contest. The focus is on the presidential race, which over 70 candidates are contesting, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Many of the candidates are unknown. This is why all the attention is on the more popular Buhari and Atiku. Are the two the best of the lot? In terms of brilliance and ability to deliver, they are not, but they have power, money, structure and connection behind them. The business community will not say it, but it will always support those in power because it is the politically correct thing to do.

    We have among the contestants young and vibrant Nigerians, who if given the chance can turn things around for good for our country, but the system may not allow them to emerge. I am talking of the Kingsley Moghalus, the Gbenga Olawepo-Hashims, the Fela Durotoyes, the Omoyele Sowores et al. These are new politicians on the block who with the right structure can win election and provide quality leadership for our country. We need leadership that can think out of the box. A president that can stand his own among his fellow presidents and not bring shame to our country. In a country of almost 200 million people, we have such people, but the obnoxious system we operate is not allowing them room to blossom.

    This is a presidential race with a difference. In the past, it would have only been the same old faces running. Today, we have the new breed also on the ballot. This is some consolation that we are growing as a nation. If the Moghalus, the Olawepo-Hashims and the Oby Ezekwesilis, before she withdrew from the race, can come out today, all  hope is not lost for our country. Very soon, the old brigade will know that their time is up and they will quietly quit the scene for the next generation. For that to happen, the technocrats too must be ready to give them a run for their money just as Moghalu and co., are doing because as APC stalwart Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is wont to say “power is not served a’la carte”. To get it, you must go for it.

    Even if the Moghalus, the Durotoyes, the Olawepo-Hashims do not get it eventually, history will be kind to them that they walked  where angels feared to tread. As it happened in 2015, we pray that at the end of the day, the election will be free and fair, with the losers having the courage to concede defeat and hug the winner to the admiration of the world. All is set for the election and may it be conducted without hitch. By this time next Thursday, it should be all over, with the winner known to the world. Who will that be?

    Those trying to play God, may yet be shocked by the outcome of the election. One thing is for sure, it will be a peaceful exercise to the chagrin of the prophets of doom.

  • Breath of fresh air

    THEIR intervention was least expected, but it came at a time many thought there was no way the legal profession could redeem itself. The judiciary, a very important arm of the law profession, is in dire straits. Things were never like this before in the third arm of government. The judiciary is our bulwark against injustice and the many evils which plague modern society. The judiciary stands in a class of its own because it is expected to uphold the scale of justice.

    We know that the symbol of justice is a blindfolded woman wielding a two-edged sword. This tells us that justice is blind. It does not know a judge or even  a president. Everybody is equal before the law no matter your social status. So, anyone, who breaks the law must pay for it. The person must be brought to justice. In the last three weeks, we have seen the state and the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen engage in a tango.

    The state is accusing Onnoghen of false asset declaration. The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has since filed a charge against him before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). But the case cannot go on until the defendant appears in court. So far, Onnoghen has not shown up in court as his lawyers have brought an application, challenging the tribunal’s jurisdiction. The same lawyers are making moves for a political resolution of the matter. Their move is not bad, but they should not make it look as if their client is being witch hunted.

    It is the duty of lawyers to defend their clients in court no matter how bad the case may be. But it is not part of their brief to read political or any other meaning into the case or try to pull wool over the people’s eyes. A clear conscience fears no accusation, so goes the saying. Without going into the merits or demerits of the Onnoghen case, it is trite that the CCT should be allowed to handle the case the way it deems fit without anybody interfering. But there is a twist to the matter as it has now gone before the National Judicial Council (NJC). To many, both lawyers and non-lawyers alike, the matter should have gone there first before being taking to court, if need be.

    No doubt, some lawyers have gone overboard over the Onnoghen case. This is why the intervention of the 20 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) under the aegis of the Justice Reform Project (JRP) is refreshing. In its mission statement released on Saturday, the JRP said it felt embarrassed and deeply concerned by the events surrounding Onnoghen’s suspension. Indeed, virtually every Nigerian is embarrassed by the development because they never thought that their chief justice will find himself in such a situation. The judiciary has known no peace since the story of his non-asset declaration broke because many of our judicial officers are torn between their loyalty to an embattled boss and the oath they swore to uphold.

    Judges who wish to do their job conscientiously are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. They are afraid of doing anything which may lead to their being ostracised by their colleagues. Many lawyers and judges have turned it into a case in which they must show solidarity with the CJN. If Onnoghen was not the defendant, will these judges be this deferential to the accused? This is the question our judges and lawyers must answer as the world is watching what is going on. Judges are expected to wield the sword of justice without looking at the face of the person in the dock before them. When they do otherwise, they show their bias and will invariably pervert justice. As the SANs noted : ‘’the crisis of confidence that is currently shaking the judiciary and the legal profession is unprecedented’’.

    They could not have put it better. They understand the system well because they are key players there. With some of them having been SAN for over 30 years, nobody can accuse them of not knowing what they are saying. They know the system and the people inside out. ‘’Certain facts are hardly contestable’’, they said. ‘’There is a widespread perception that there is corruption in the judiciary and this perception is supported by anecdotal evidence. Unscrupulous litigants and some complicit lawyers, including some SANs, procure judgements and orders by corrupt means. It is also beyond dispute that the system for self-regulation in the judiciary and the legal profession has failed.’’

    This is frank talk and only lawyers, who are not true to themselves, will deny their ‘learned friends’ submission. The first step to correcting yourself begins with admitting your fault. If you do not admit your fault, you will never accept correction. These SANs have exposed some of the ills of the judiciary and the legal profession, it is now left for their colleagues to join hands with them in their search for a remedy. What we are witnessing in the judiciary today is not healthy and the earlier lawyers come together to address the problem the better. May the tribe of these SANs increase.

  • Letter to NJC

    The judiciary is in a trying time.
    We must. And I repeat, we must
    stand to protect and uphold the
    integrity of this arm of government…
    -Ag Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad

    THESE, indeed, are trying times for the judiciary. With the nation’s chief justice in the dock, as it were, the integrity of the judiciary is at stake. We have never before witnessed what we are seeing today in the third arm of government, as the allegations of false asset declaration swirl around the suspended Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen. Until the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) proves the allegations of false asset declaration and refusal to declare some of his assets against him, Justice Onnoghen remains innocent.

    It is too early in the day to draw any conclusion about this matter, notwithstanding the fact, which many Nigerians have taken judicial and judicious notice of, that Onnoghen said he ”forgot” to declare those assets. Is it possible for a man to own millions in dollars, pounds and euros and forget to declare them? That is an issue for the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to decide. No matter how we look at this case, serious damage has been done to the judiciary that he heads.

    Whether he is eventually found guilty or not, the judiciary will certainly not be the same again. As the world watches this spectacle, many Nigerians are irked by the allegations against Onnoghen because he should be the symbol of all that is good and pure about our country. ”If gold rust, what will iron do?” the people wonder.  The public can understand when such allegations are made against governors, senators and the likes, but not against our Number One judicial officer. Little wonder opinions are divided over how the matter is being handled. Even lawyers, the ”learned men” of the world, are not speaking with one voice on this unwholesome matter.

    On one hand, are those saying that the matter should not have been ‘rushed’ to the CCT like that; on the other, are those arguing that he should first have been reported to the National Judicial Council (NJC), which has the exclusive right of looking into cases of misconduct against judges. We, however, have a peculiar situation on our hands – the NJC and CJN are one. By virtue of the Constitution, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) is the NJC chairman and many members of the council hold office at his pleasure. This being so, there are fears that he may use his office to get his way and cover up the case against him even before it gets to court. Is it not when the case comes to court that his guilt or otherwise will be determined?

    These fears cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand. Not with the way Justice Onnoghen was said to have deferred sine die, the meeting of the NJC. Why did he adjourn the meeting indefinitely? There can only be one reason for His Lordship’s action and that is he has something to hide. Can the NJC be trusted to do justice in this matter now that it has come to it? Is the case before the NJC that of misconduct against the suspended CJN in the line of duty? Is the case against him similar to that of Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court, which was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on December 11, 2017, because NJC was not allowed to look into the matter before he was charged to court?

    The case against Nganjiwa was that he received bribe in the course of duty. But that is not the case against Onnoghen, who is facing allegations of false asset declaration and refusal to declare his assets. I am a layman when it comes to law. But from my little understanding of this matter, will it be appropriate for the NJC to consider any petition accusing any judge of false asset declaration or refusal to declare his assets before he is charged at the CCT? With the case now before the NJC, all eyes are on the august body to do what is just. It is bound to consider the circumstances under which the matter  got to it, but it should not allow that to becloud its sense of reasoning and judgement.

    The NJC is bigger than its chairman, who comes and goes anyway. The chairman today may not be the chairman tomorrow once he ceases to be the CJN and that is how it has been since the creation of the body. To allay the fears of those who strongly feel that it may be biased in this matter, NJC should conduct itself in the best tradition of the Bench. Although, it is not a court, it must discharge this onerous responsibility without fear or favour, affection or ill will. It should bear in mind that everything surrounding this case evolved from the suspended CJN’s handling of a simple matter of asset declaration. If he had handled the issue the way he should, the polity will not be in the tailspin it is today.

    What is happening is unfortunate, highly unfortunate, but the NJC can still save the day by displaying courage and utmost good faith in ending this rigmarole. The NJC must rise above itself to save the judiciary. It has a chance to write its name in gold or end up in infamy. As Acting CJN Muhammad said in the concluding part of his quote used at the beginning of this article, during the inauguration of election petitions’ tribunals in Abuja last Saturday: ”If any other person is trying to destroy the judiciary, we should try to protect it. If we do not protect it ourselves, no one else will protect it for us. So, therefore, it is our bounden duty to see that we protect the judiciary wherever we find ourselves”.

    To do that, the judiciary needs men that filthy lucre cannot buy. In the immortal words of Gilbert Holland written over 100 years ago: ”May God give us men! A time like this demands. Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands; men whom lust of office does not kill; men whom spoils of office cannot buy; men who possess opinions and a will; men who have honour, men who will not lie, men who can stand before a demagogue; and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking! Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog in public duty and in private thinking…”

    These times need such men badly. Will NJC members play that role? We leave them to their conscience.

  • Obasanjo again!

    FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo pulls no punches in a duel.  As a soldier and a general to boot, his combat like approach to issues can be understandable. He is not afraid to speak his mind, no matter whose ox is gored. Whenever he perceives things are not going on well, he intervenes, calling on the leadership to mend its way. At times, the intervention may be for personal reasons and not in the national interest.

    Without doubt, our nation needs people like him who can speak out once in a while to shake things up or rouse the powers-that-be from slumber. There is no leader in recent memory that Obasanjo has not taken on, be they those he helped to install and those he never supported. To him, they are fair game. Yes, he has a right,  just like every other Nigerian, to speak whenever he feels like, but he cannot abuse that right by donning the toga of Mr Know All.

    That, to many, has been his attitude in his relationship with those who succeeded him after he left office in 2007. Obasanjo, they say, wants to be in the driver’s seat always. He wants to call the shots and dictate to the man at the helm. Where he does not have his way, he resorts to attacking them. President Muhammadu   Buhari came to office with his knowledge. There was nothing he did not say about Buhari before the 2015 elections when he battled former President Goodluck Jonathan to no end. His slogan then was : ”Anything but Jonathan”. He said Buhari had all it takes to be president, explaining that he has known the President since their days in the military. Last year, in a special statement, he descended on Buhari, saying the President has made a mess of running the country. He advocated a third force to take over from Buhari this year. On Sunday, he continued from where he stopped last year when he accused the President of dictatorship – a tag which watchers say best fits Obasanjo in his days in office.

    ‘Today, another Abacha era is here. The security institutions are being misused to fight all critics and opponents of Buhari and to derail our fledgling democracy. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), police and Code of Conduct Tribunal are also being equally misused to deal with those Buhari sees as enemies for criticising him or those who may not do his bidding in manipulating election results”, Obasanjo said in his statement titled: Points for concern and action. He expressed what he called serious concern over the capability of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct free, fair and credible elections, adding that one of its national commissioners, Mrs Amina Zakari, has become too controversial to be part of the process.

    Many analysts are bemused by his submissions. They find it hard to believe that Obasanjo could issue such a statement. “Is it not the same Obasanjo that used the EFCC to hound Governors Rashidi Ladoja (Oyo), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Joshua Dariye (Plateau) and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha (Bayelsa) until they were unlawfully impeached by their lawmakers?” they asked. Their impeachment was overturned by the court. The same Obasanjo, they said,  used then Ekiti State Resident Electoral Commissioner Mrs Ayoka Adebayo to manipulate the governorship election in Ido Osi in 2007 for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    To them, Obasanjo has no moral right to address Buhari the way he did. They believe that he should first remove the log in his own eyes before he removes the speck in others’  eyes. Will he heed their advice?

     

    The Americana

     

    LONG before he went to
    America last Thursday, the
    Federal Government had made a big deal of the issue. It is electioneering season and everything is considered fair in this contest for power. Sometime last year, the government said it had learnt that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, had applied for an American visa. The government advised the United States (US) Consulate against granting him the visa in order not to be seen as supporting Atiku’s presidential bid. Well, I do not know what informed the government’s  action, but it was certainly not a good move. What is the government’s business with Atiku going to the US? Will the trip earn him victory at the February 16 poll?

    These are some of the questions the government should have considered before raising hell over who gets an American visa or not.  Why did the government take that path after taunting Atiku that he cannot visit America because he has a case to answer there. Atiku has gone to America and returned home. He went, he saw and he came back without any hitch. Some are saying that he was not arrested because he enjoyed the diplomatic cover of Senate President Bukola Saraki, who went with him. That cannot be true because being in the entourage of the Senate President cannot grant you immunity from arrest in a nation where you are wanted. The truth is Atiku has broken the yoke of ”he cannot visit America” that was hanging over his neck.  But will the trip translate to victory for him at the poll? That is the big question.

     

    Minimum wage war

     

    ON Tuesday, the Council of State (CoS) took a stand on the minimum wage. It advised the Federal Government to pay its workers N30,000. States and the private sector were advised to pay N27,000. The Council’s stand may  be informed by the need to resolve the wage debacle without ruffling feathers. Indeed, the tripartite committee headed by Ama Pepple, former head of service, recommended N30,000 for the least paid worker. The government had proposed N24,000,  the states, N22,700 and labour backed down from its N56,000 demand to accept N30,000. The issue is highly contentious and all the parties should be ready to give and take in order to resolve it. With labour rejecting what it called disparity in the wage, interesting days surely lie ahead. Really, there is nothing to write home about between the N30,000 and N27,000. In as much as we understand labour’s position, may we appeal to the body to tread softly in the interest of all. Easy, they say, does it.

  • The law as an ass

    THE Constitution is a social contract with the people. It is a people-oriented document, detailing the laws for the smooth running of society. The Constitution is a nation’s supreme law. Any other law bows before it. No matter how strong a criminal or civil law is, it is nothing before the Constitution. In the face of any conflict, the constitutional provision takes precedence. The Constitution, according to lawyers, is the nation’s grund norm, that is the law on which other laws derive their powers.

    But like everything created by humans, the Constitution is not perfect. Thus, the 1999 Constitution, as amended, has many flaws. Though an offshoot of the 1979 Constitution, it was hurriedly cobbled together in 1999 to meet the exigencies of the time. It contains provisions on citizenship,  fundamental rights, legislature, executive, judiciary, elections, creation of executive bodies, governance and the three tiers of government.

    In fact, it comprises virtually everything on statehood. One of its interesting provisions can be found in Section 158. This provision, taking at its face value, looks like any other provision in the Constitution. But on a closer look, it has deep, very deep meaning. The section talks about the independence of certain federal executive bodies created under Section 153. These bodies, according to Section 158 (1) cannot be subject to the direction or control of any authority or person in the exercise of their appointment and disciplinary powers.

    They are the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the National Judicial Council (NJC), the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Relying on the provision of Section 158, the Court of Appeal on December 11, 2017, in Justice Hyeldazira Nganjiwa’s case, held that no judicial officer can be brought for trial without first being taken before the NJC. The framers of the Constitution may have meant well in inserting this provision, but with what is happening today, there is need for a  rethink on it.

    No matter how grave an offence a judge may commit, if he is not first taken to the NJC, which has no adjudicatory power, he cannot be charged to court, going by that verdict, which remains the law until set aside by the Supreme Court. This issue has become worrisome because the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen, who chairs the NJC, is today caught in the web of Section 158. The CJN has been accused of false assets declaration, an offence for which he will soon be charged before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). The question is what is the essence of this Section 158, which confers NJC, CCB, FCC, INEC, RMAFC, FCSC and FJSC the power to first sanction their erring officials administratively before they can be charged to court?

    Can these bodies be trusted to discharge this constitutional duty with utmost good faith knowing full well the implication if such officials are found wanting? The framers of the Constitution, in their wisdom, would have thought that members of these bodies will be above board; men and women that money cannot buy. People with conscience who will serve their nation without thinking of what is in it for them. The CJN is the nation’s chief law officer as the head of the judiciary, the third arm of government. It is rather unfortunate that he is in this mess today. Many have read politics into his travails. They may be right, but they should take a look at his reported response to the allegations against him.

    ”My asset declaration form numbers SCN 00014 and SCN 00005 were declared on the same day, 14/12/2016, because I forgot to make a declaration of my assets after the expiration of my 2005 declaration in 2009. Following my appointment as acting CJN in November 2016, the need to declare my assets anew made me to realise the mistake…”, he was quoted as saying. If he had appeared before the NJC and made this submission in his defence, what would the august body have done? Spare him? Sanction him? By virtue of his status, the likelihood of NJC being biased is high, quite high. That is the truth. Criminal matters involving anybody, be he a judicial officer or not, are best handled by the police and the courts. NJC or any other body for that matter should not play intermediary role in cases that should go straight to court. Thus, there is need to amend the Constitution to remove Section 158 which confers the status of super citizens on some Nigerians.

    As a judge, what will His Lordship, the CJN say if in a case like this the appellant is quoted on records as having said that he forgot to declare part of his assets? Go and sin no more? He will not say that; he will bring the full weight of the law to bear on the appellant. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

  • The army show

    THE insurgency war seems not to be going the military’s way. It has thrown everything into the war, yet the insurgents are still coming up strong. The insurgents are putting all they have into the war, including kids, who they use as suicide bombers. The military has a tough job on its hands because as experts have said this is not a conventional war.

    They say it is guerrilla warfare, meaning the military cannot apply the rules of conventional war in the prosecution of the anti-insurgency campaign. The Federal Government, like the military, would have liked the war to end long ago.

    This was why it stepped up the anti-insurgency war as soon as it came into office in 2015. In no time, soldiers levelled Sambisa Forest, the base of Boko Haram, turning it to Ground Zairo. It also said the troops had whittled the power of the insurgents to cause havoc. But it seemed, the government counted its chicks before they were hatched. The insurgents, despite all the blitzkrieg, remain standing. The more they take, the more hardened they become.

    The campaign to finish off Boko Haram is a national task to which our soldiers are committed. They are ready to do anything to rout the insurgents since they signed up to defend the nation’s territorial integrity whenever called upon to do so. The Boko Haram war is one that affects everyone of us because the men and women in the Northeast, the epicentre of the conflict, are our compatriots. We cannot close our eyes to what is happening in that region because it is they who are over there today, we do not know who may be next and in what part of the country tomorrow.

    We do not pray for the escalation of the Boko Haram war because it is not in the nation’s interest for there to be crisis in any part of the land. Nigerians will be too happy if the Boko Haram war ends today. The military is giving the campaign its all, no doubt, but more still needs to be done. For Boko Haram to be routed, the military needs to carry along every section of the country because it does not know where information may come from that will help in untying the Gordian knot which this insurgency thing seems to have become.

    It seems the battle is getting to the military, especially with what happened in Metele, Borno State, last December when insurgents attacked the 157 Task Force base, killing scores of soldiers. The Metele attack touched a raw nerve in the military and since then our soldiers have turned to wounded lions. The military has become touchy that it would react to anything, no matter how minute. In this war, the military rather than look for more enemies outside the battlefield, should court those that can help it in crushing Boko Haram.

    In this regard, one of its partners should be the press. Usually,  the military does not like to befriend the press because it believes journalists cannot be trusted. Unknown to the military and others who think like that, the press is the best secret keeper in the world once you take it into confidence. There is need for press briefing  once in a while by military chiefs so that journalists can know what is happening in the Northeast. Such briefings should come with the understanding that they are not for publication.

    But where the military tries to hoard information, you can be sure that the press will release it once it stumbles on it. What happen between the military and the Daily Trust could have been averted if there was two-way communication between the military and the press. I will be the first to admit that under the present circumstance, the press should be circumspect in publishing certain stories on the Boko Haram war in order not to give out military plan. There are certain stories that should not be carried in the national interest when our country is at war.

    We are all stakeholders in the Nigeria project so it will be in our collective interest to bear that in mind and do things that will not jeopardise national security. The questions then arise: Should Sunday Trust  have carried its front page lead story: Military prepares massive operation to retake Baga, others last Sunday? Was the military right to have invaded the newspaper’s offices in Abuja, Borno and Lagos over the publication? In the national interest, the press should be mindful of what it carries in times like this and the military too should exercise restraint in reacting to media reports no matter how bad it may consider them to be. It should remember that under the law, a man cannot be a judge in his own case.

    The military spoilt an otherwise good case by its hasty action. If it had sought second opinion, perhaps, it would not have reacted that way. You do not right a wrong with another wrong. Thank God that reason has prevailed in the matter. This is where the Information Minister should come in. To avoid a recurrence, there should be periodic interaction between the military and the press moderated by the minister where they would rub minds on national security matters, especially the dragging Boko Haram war.

    Of course, it would be off record. At that forum, issues will be thrashed out to the satisfaction of all so that the military and the press will become partners in progress.

  • January blues

    YEAR 2018 passed away early on Tuesday, yielding way to 2019. With the coming of the New Year, came the well-known greetings of ”Happy New Year” and ”Prosperous New Year” and in this age of social media, we saw other ingenious ways that people wished their loved ones well. Of course, every new year begins with January and so we are in the month of Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, from which it derived its name.

    January is a tough month, especially for workers and parents. It is tough because of some reasons peculiar to this category of people. To workers, it is a long month because they would have collected and perhaps, spent their December salary long before Christmas. So, trying to cope in January becomes tough because of the expenses they would have incurred on the Yuletide festivities.

    Before the tenth of the month, many would have gone broke and may resort to seeking financial help from friends and family members who are well off. In most cases, these people also have their own challenges and may not be of immediate help. It is not strange to see these workers wearing long faces so early in the month. Ask them what the trouble is and they will say: ”my brother ground no level. I need money badly”

    Virtually, everybody ”needs money badly” as soon as the noise of the New Year celebrations dies down. If you are a tenant, your case may even be worse as you might have been served notice of a rent increase in the New Year, with a deadline for payment. As you are struggling to pay your rent,  you are also struggling to attend to other issues, especially school fees. Where the money to serve these two needs will come from, you do not know. But you are so sure that God will provide; so with a wry smile on your face, you soldier on. Man no go die like this, you mutter under your breath.

    But deep down inside, you are worried. You do not want your worry to show in order not to alarm your wife and kids. They know all the same that something is amiss because whenever they ask for money, you flare up. As fathers, the man in us will never allow us to admit to our families that we are cash strapped; that we may need to manage until something comes up or our company decides to throw us a lifeline – in form of a bonus – just like the bailout by the Federal Government to states.

    When the lifeline is not forthcoming, we become agitated. We are somehow lucky that we were not confronted with the usual December/January fuel crisis. We rode the storm this season, thanks to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which did all it could to prevent that perennial problem. One seasonal crisis – workers’ strike –  which may not be averted, is staring us in the face. It has to do with the minimum wage, an issue which should have been sorted out long ago, if we had followed the wage law strictly.

    The N18,000 minimum wage came into being in 2011, following the approval of the National Assembly. By law, the wage is to be reviewed every five years. The review should have been done in 2016. This is 2019 and the least paid worker is still earning N18,000 monthly despite the prevailing harsh economic condition. Even not all the states are paying the N18,000, though some are paying higher than that. In the past seven months, labour has been agitating for higher pay for workers.

    Before 2018 ended,  the Ama Pepple-led tripartite committee proposed N30,000 as the minimum wage. Although labour’s demand was higher than that, it accepted the amount in its words ”in the interest of peace”. But the governors kicked. They said they could not pay N30,000, asking labour to accept N22,500. Last December in Lagos, labour warned that it would call out workers on strike if by January the issue was not resolved. It reiterated its strike threat on December 31.

    At a briefing in Lagos, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) General Secretary Peter Ozo-Eson urged workers to prepare for a prolonged strike that will start on January 8. Labour, he insisted, is against the setting up of a technical committee after the Pepple panel had submitted its report to President Muhammadu Buhari. What the President should do is to send a bill to the National Assembly for the passage of the proposed N30,000 minimum wage into law, NLC said.

    The governors do not see any justification for labour’s stand. In a swift reaction, the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) described as unpatriotic labour’s insistence on N30,000, saying it is an attempt to hold the President to ransom. The governors said they would have loved to pay N30, 000, but lacked the wherewithal to do so. They said it was not true that they were merely refusing to pay. ”Times are hard and because of the financial constraints and other limitations, many states cannot afford it, for now”, they claimed.

    They insisted that they could only pay N22,500, adding that they made this known to the Pepple panel.  The Pepple panel, it seems, did not see reason in their submission as it recommended N30,000 to the President. For the panel to have arrived at that amount, it means that it would have taken some factors into consideration, among which will be the states’ ability to pay. Do the governors think that labour will now accept anything less than the panel’s recommendation?

    It is true that ”times are hard” as the governors said, but there are loopholes in government, which must be plugged in order to improve workers’ welfare. The goose that lays the golden egg should not continue to suffer while those who come to office once in four years just lap up everything. If the governors cut their coats according to their materials the nation will not be in this dilemma. What is N22,500 minimum wage or even the N30,000 that labour has settled for in these ”hard times”, going by their own words?

    Workers deserve more than this and the governors know that too. They are just hiding under what they called ”hard times” to deny workers what they truly deserve. This monkey dey work, baboon dey chop mentality cannot continue. The earlier their excellencies know this, the better for all.

  • Nigeria in 2019

    CERTAIN things happened in 2018 which even the seers did not foresee. We do not blame them though because a man can only see as far as God allows him. It is only what God reveals to man that he can see. If God does not reveal it, forget it, no matter how gifted a prophet may be, he will see nothing.

    Nothing buttresses this submission better than the story of the  Shunammite woman and his son in the Bible. She got the boy after a long wait on the Lord following the intercession of Prophet Elisha. Then, the boy died. The mother virtually ran amok. How will I lose my child which I bore after years of barrenness? She wondered and sought out the man of God for solution.

    When Elisha saw her afar off, he ordered his servant to meet her and ask her if all was well. “It is well”, she said, to every question she was asked. When she poured her heart out to Elisha, he knew immediately that something was amiss. As his servant tried to shoo away the woman, who had by then, fallen at his feet, Elisha said candidly: “Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me”.

    None of our prophets saw the February 19, 2018 abduction of the Dapchi schoolgirls, some four years after the kidnap of the Chibok schoolgirls. If anyone had predicted that another set of schoolgirls would be kidnapped in such manner after the 2014 Chibok incident many of us would have labelled such a person a fake prophet.

    Leah Sharibu, this paper’s Person of the Year for 2018, daily reminds us of the Dapchi saga, which we should have put behind us by now, if she had been released along with her mates who were let go on March 21. She is still being detained because she held on to her faith. Leah refused to renounce Christianity not because she hates freedom, but because she loves Christ with all her soul. May God touch the hearts of her captors and let her go in 2019.

    Two thousand and nineteen is a year of great expectations for us as a nation. It is an election year and the parties and their candidates have been selling their programmes to the people. The candidates are as many as the parties. The electoral umpire has told us that 79 candidates would contest the election. Of the lot, two stand out and they are President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    We can liken what is unravelling right before our eyes to what has since evolved in the United States (US) which presidential system of government we adopted. In the US, there are many parties, but you hardly hear about them. Before, during and after elections, the world only gets to hear about the Republican (the Grand Old Party, GOP) and the Democratic Party. These parties have dominated the scene for ages. Nigeria seems to be heading that way. The other candidates have been doing all they can to shift attention from Buhari and Atiku, but they seem not to be succeeding.

    Everywhere you turn, talks centre on these two. Will Nigerians return Buhari or will they vote Atiku in 2019? Those in support of Buhari point at his integrity, the attribute which got him into power in 2015, and his ongoing war against corruption which some say is selective. Indeed, Buhari is a good man, but having been in power for over three years now, the question is how has he fared? Many voters may not look at his integrity but at his achievements in deciding whether to return him or not.

    As for Atiku, hmmmmm! He has been tarred by the corruption brush. Even his number one supporter today and former boss Chief Olusegun Obasanjo did not see anything good in him until now. But it took a split with President Buhari for former President Obasanjo to see the good in Atiku. Is it not too late in the day for that? If Atiku is that good why didn’t he back the former number two citizen to succeed him in 2007? Isn’t it this same Atiku that Obasanjo accused of selling public enterprises to himself under the guise of privatisation in his book ‘’My Watch’’? What happened to his claim that Atiku’s source of wealth is suspicious.

    But fortunately for Atiku, the government says there is no evidence to nail him. How lucky can a much vilified man be. Despite he and Buhari not being the most outstanding of all the candidates, the focus continues to be on them because of the strength of their parties, which will never give their tickets to any of the other contestants no matter what, except the unthinkable happens.

    For the Lagos State governorship election, it is going to be Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu (BOS) of the APC all the way. Jimi Agbaje of the PDP does not stand a chance against him. Agbaje has said he is running because his party could not get a younger candidate. Can that be true? So, of all the youngsters in the party, none is good enough to be governor? That’s hard to believe. What this shows is that Agbaje is a reluctant candidate; he is not ready for the arduous task of managing the burgeoning Smart City.

    Our economy is still a source of worry. With the price of oil tumbling, the government has to buckle up to ensure that it gets money from other sources for the provision of infrastructure. The 2019 budget is hinged on a $60 per barrel of oil benchmark. In the past few months, we have seen the price shoot up to $80 per barrel and from that height fall to its current $53.82, which is lower than the budget benchmark. If it continues on the downward trend, implementing the budget may be a huge problem. Will oil price go up again?

    Yes, it will, but we should not continue to rely on a commodity which topsy-turvy nature can derail any well laid plan. No matter how good our budget may be on paper, as long as we do not have control over the price of oil, which is our major revenue earner, we will continue to hold our breath whenever the price crashes. When the price goes up, let’s be wise and save for the rainy day and not behave like the prodigal son. In the meantime, let us pursue the diversification of our economy with vigour.

    Better days lie ahead. But let us pray that we do not start 2019 with a workers’ strike over minimum wage. Happy New Year in advance.