THE Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) and three senior lawyers have faulted the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Adoke (SAN), on the directive to the Chief Judge of Bayelsa State, Justice Kate Abiri, to swear in Rivers State’s governor-elect Nyesom Wike on May 29.
Adoke had, while issuing the directive to the Bayelsa’s Chief Judge on Tuesday, argued that where there is a vacuum in the offices of the Chief Judge of Rivers State and the state’s President of the Customary Court of Appeal, the constitution empowers any person to administer the oath of office on the governor-elect.
He hinged his decision on the provision of Section 185(1)(2) of the Constitution and the need to avert constitutional crisis in the state.
Rivers State has been without a Chief Judge and President of the Customary Court of Appeal since last year following the disagreement between the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and the National Judicial Council (NJC) over Amaechi’s choice of Justice Peter Agumagu as the chief judge.
The NJC faulted the choice of Akumagu, who was the President of the state’s Customary Court of Appeal and suspended him from acting in that capacity and as a judicial officer for allegedly breaching his oath of office. He is currently in court.
But, the Rivers State APC, through its Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, yesterday in Port Harcourt, asked Adoke not to mislead Nigerians.
The party noted that Adoke was being coerced by the powers-that-be on his position on the inauguration of Wike, a former Minister of State for Education.
It said: “The AGF has spoken. We are sure that his directive is as unconvincing as can be, with regard to the section of the constitution cited to justify his action. Definitely, Mr. Mohammed Adoke knows he has been goaded into an action that he neither believes in nor convinced is right. We knew all along that this day will come. Perhaps, the game has just begun, because Section 185 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria he cited in no way suggests or implies that it is the AGF that should make such appointment or issue such directive. Therefore, the APC rejects the directive in its entirety.
“Nothing in any part of the constitution suggests that the AGF can direct or order any judge of any state in Nigeria in any direction whatsoever.
“Therefore, the order or directive by Mr. Adoke to the Chief Judge of Bayelsa State to swear in Nyesom Wike as the Governor of Rivers State on May 29 is illegal, null and void.”
The party warned Adoke not to create crisis or cause confusion in the crude oil and gas-rich state.
Three lawyers – former Edo State Attorney-General Chief Charles Uwensuyi-Edosomwan (SAN), former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja Branch Adebamigbe Omole and Lagos lawyer and rights activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa – said the decision of Adoke was unconstitutional.
Uwensuyi-Edosomwan believed that any competent judge or the most senior judge in Rivers State could have been drafted to swear in the governor elect.
“This issue of cross border, going to get a Chief Judge in Bayelsa State is absurd and I do not think that it is constitutionally sound for him to do that. I can imagine the Chief Judge of Rivers State coming to swear in the governor-elect, but I cannot imagine the chief judge of another state coming to swear-in the governor-elect”, he said.
Uwensuyi-Edosomwan admitted that the constitution never anticipated a situation where there would be no chief judge to swear in an in-coming governor in any state and that a situation that could lead to confusion would arise in the state.
He maintained that the country could not afford a breach of the constitution by going to shop for a chief judge of another state to swear in the governor elect.
The former Edo State Attorney-General noted that the development is another test case for the courts.
He said: “Let us see what the courts would say whether it is right for the Chief Judge of a state to swear-in the governor of another state”.
Omole described the decision of the Attorney-General as part of the culture of impunity that has been bringing the country to ridicule and negating the rule of law.
He added that what Adoke had done was to apply political solution to the constitutional problem in Rivers State in an attempt to avert crisis since there must be no vacuum in government.
The former NBA chairman, however, blamed the situation on the National Judicial Council (NJC), which, he said, did not handle the judicial crisis in the state very well.
“That is why a political situation is now being applied to a constitutional matter,” he said.
Adegboruwa argued that in a federal system of government like Nigeria, it did not lie with the Adoke to issue such directive to a state’s Chief Judge, when such Chief Judge was not answerable or subservient to him.
He contended that the responsibility for requesting the service of another state’s Chief Judge, where a state lacked a chief judge, rests solely with the state without a chief judge.
In this case, he said it lies with only the Governor of Rivers State to make such request.
Adegboruwa, who described Adoke’s directive as “a continuation of the impunity that has characterised the outgoing administration of President Goodluck Jonathan,” urged the Bayelsa Chief Judge to ignore the directive.
He appealed to Amaechi to put the interest of the state above political considerations and request the assistance of the Bayelsa Chief Judge, because he alone possesses the legal authority.
“It is unconstitutional for the Hon AGF to be issuing directives to a sitting Chief Judge of a state, in a federation. The swearing in of a governor of a state is a matter for the internal affairs of that state and this cannot be usurped or taken over by the Hon AGF,” he said
