It was Peter, not Peter the Apostle, but Peter, the hero of Hugh Walpole’s Fortitude, who in the lowly depth of despair, declared, to the astonishment of his foes and admirers alike: “It is n’t life that matters, but the courage that you bring to it”. After life had done terrible things to Peter, he heard a voice that said, among other things, Blessed be all sorrow; Hardships and endurances, That demand courage, Blessed be these things, For these things, Comet the making Of a man (Cited in Obafemi Awolowo Voice of Courage). AIhaji Atiku Abubakar is many things to different people. To Aliyu Usman, “he is probably the most misunderstood politician in Nigeria” (The Nigerian Tribune of Monday November 25 ).
His biographer, Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba says: “Adversity has taught him to be kind, caring and compassionate; his childhood experience as a herdsman, leading the family livestock to the pasture imbued in him the value of patience; the loneliness of childhood made him a lover of people and of large family, the tragedy of being orphaned at an early age instilled in him the virtues of hard work and independence and an abiding faith in God, his 20-year career in the Customs exposed him the larger and more complex world outside the one he knew in Southern Adamawa and his politics taught him focus determination and the ability to understand, predict and manage people.” His success in life (he concluded) is proof that ‘the Nigerian dream’ exists and that with providence and hard work one can aspire to any height in life”
The story of Abubakar
From the brief profile of on pages 5-6 of the book and two full-length biographical works on him (which the reviewer has read, long before how) it is obvious that he has vividly packed into almost seven decades of purposeful existence, a great miscellany of attributes which distinguish him as an accomplished public servant, an astute politician, a skilful manager of human and material resources, a quiet philanthropist, a man of compassion towards the weak and the poor, an unyielding advocate of social justice, democratic governance and the dignity of the human person and a man of great courage. Akin Osuntokun in ThisDay newspaper of Friday, September 6, 2013 described him as “cosmopolitan, intelligent, broad minded, ambitious, courageous and a deft political player”, who could possibly have made a good president”. “These qualities”, Osuntokun asserted, “must have informed his choice as running mate to President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999. And the latter (still quoting Osuntokun) had big plans for him. His choice was deliberate.”
Not done yet, Osuntokun stated. Further, “Obasanjo’s projection was to make Atiku succeed him after two terms in office. His age was taken into account and it was a crucial factor in his rating against other good, but older contenders. Pitted against another similarly younger contender, Abubakar Rimi, it was his ability to remain calm and collected under pressure that scored him higher (Beyond these general attributes) there were two significant instances that bore testimony to his capacity for leadership. He was the most forceful and clear sighted, in making the case for conceding the presidency to the southwest among his peers in 1999. He equally and at considerable cost to his political prospects, stood up to be counted against ‘political sharia. In his first term in office, president Obasanjo spent a lot of time travelling the world – to rebrand and reintegrate Nigeria back into polite and civilised company.
There was (however) a component to this peripatetic itinerary that was obscured and not known to the public. That default component was to groom the vice-president for succession to the office of the president by ceding and giving room for him to grapple with Nigerian governance duty and responsibility. The role was to be reversed in the second term by assigning him to numerous international engagements to prepare him for this complementary role when he takes over as president. But this was not to be”.
What then went wrong? Historians may be able to present the “true story” in future. But the Contemporary legal historian of landmark constitutional cases cannot afford to ignore the social, political and economic contexts of the issues raised for legal analysis. This is the essence of historiography -informed legal history. And that is why the present reviewer has gone this far art the risk of veering into irrelevance if only to locate explore the historicity of the cases included in the book.
The unprecedented “split” in the presidency in 2006, the attendant acrimonies and the recriminations that followed constitute the background to the issues that are the subject matter of the cases, reported in the book. Osuntokun attempted an analysis which I will commend to everyone with interest in the Nigerian story.
Running into 300 pages of fine print with a cover that bears the insignia of Justice Landmark Constitutional Law in Cases Nigeria is authored by two frontline legal scholars, Maxwell M. Gidado, a Professor of law and Dean, Faculty of Law, Nasarawa State University, who has, in addition, garnered some experience in the corridors of power, and Chudi M. Ojukwu, a Regulation specialist and leading authority on Power and infrastructure sector reforms.
As the authors make clear, the book has been written in” appreciation of the contribution of His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, GCON to the constitutional jurisprudence of the country through these cases”. The book reports and edits the judgments of the courts before whom each matter was contested, starting from the trial to the appellate levels. The book is, however is not a Law Report in the conventional sense, and in the mould. Lawyers will easily recall Gani Fawehinmi’s pioneering Nigerian Constitutional Law Reports. (now rested), Funmi Quadris Locus Classicus (which contain a significant number of constitutional cases) and her specialised Election Petition Reports. (which deal mainly with Election Petitions).
Landmark Constitutional Law Cases is divided into five chapters. Chapter One, which is introductory, consists a brief on Nigeria’s constitutional developments, the profile of the Supreme Court and a biographical sketch of His Excellency Atiku Abubakar GCON. Chapter Two deals with the case of Attorney-General of the Federation V Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in which the Supreme Court decided that the Vice President could only be removed following the process laid down under the Constitution and that the President had no powers to declare the office of the, Vice President vacant Chapter Three deals with the case of Action Congress (AC) V Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in which the Supreme Court held that the INEC had no power to disqualify candidates for an election Chapter Four deals with the case of Attorney-General of the Federation V Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in which the Court of Appeal held that the executive immunity given a vice president is absolute and that he could not be subject to criminal prosecution in any court, including the Code of Conduct not Tribunal. Chapter five deals with the case of Godie Ikechi V Peoples Democratic Party in which the Federal High Court held that a political party must act in accordance with its constitution and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The book ends with comprehensive indexes of i) Reported cases ii) Subject matter iii)Nigeria cases and a list of justices of the court of Appeal and of the Supreme Court. The industry of the counsel and the genius of the judges that sat on the cases at the various levels deserve commendation.
A review is not supposed to “help” the reader out of the reading experience. It is an attempt to prepare the reader for the intellectual ‘adventure ahead of him. Hon Justice Dahiru Musdapher’s lucid “Foreword” vividly put the “thorny issues” raised in the cases reported in their proper perspective. These issues are no doubt thought provoking. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s involvement as the “trigger puller” Justifies the, sub-title. “The Atiku Abubakar cases”. At a broad level, the issues thrown up by the cases and the surrounding circumstances bring into the front burner the following dimensions, which cannot but attract the attention of the discerning mind.
There is no craving more deep rooted in human beings than the craving for Justice it is a fundamental law of life Every school of legal thought gives justice a supreme place Plato defines it as “a kind of natural harmony and healthy habit of mind” Justinian held that it is “the constant and perpetual will to give every man his due”. In the pursuit of justice Aljhaji Atiku Abubakar did not entertain any dread of the lonely path.
Constitutional government connotes, not just a government under a constitution, but rather government under a constitution which has the force of a supreme, over-riding law, and which imposes limitations on it.
Constitutionalism has come by and large to presuppose a written constitution as a supreme over- riding law. As Nwabueze eloquently put it.
Government is a creation of the constitution. It is the constitution that creates the organs of government, clothes them with their powers and in so doing delimits the scope within which they are to operate.
A government operating under such a written constitution must act on accordance therewith. Any exercise of power outside the constitution or which is unauthorised by it is invalid. The constitution operates therefore with a supreme, over-riding authority” .
The state under conditions of democratic morality, is/and could only be “a state of law”, “a state founded on law”, “a state based on law”, “in short,” “a law-governed state”. The concept of “a law-governed state” expresses the notion that state power the power to govern the affairs of man in society, is not just arbitrary power, but one that should be exercised in accordance with definite procedures and rules. In more succinct language the State denotes power and force exercised only “in the name of the law”, a legal order, a body of laws that regulates, conditions and qualifies the exercise of power backed by force within a given community. A lawless state or an organisation of power and force unregulated by law or not exercised in accordance with law is the very antithesis of “a society in which legality reigns”.
An independent, fearless and impartial judiciary is the greatest pillar of any democratic government. It is indeed beyond dispute that respect for the law is one of the principles which have come to be regarded as essential to the effective and just operation of popular government.
In fostering this principle, the role of the judiciary is crucial, for in the words of Mr. Justice Arthur Vander built:
It is in the courts and not in the legislature that our citizens primarily feel the keen cutting edge of the law, if they have respect for the work of the courts, their respect for law will survive the shortcomings of every other branch of government but if they lose their respect for the work of the courts, their respect jar law and order will vanish with it to the great detriment of society.
The decisive role of the court in relation to good governance arises inexorably from the concepts of government of laws, government under law or the rule of law. It arises because in a constitutional government, only a court of law has the power and the right to say authoritatively, and with finality and force binding on all, including the government, what the law is that governs or rules the lives, affairs and actions of people in the country, And “once it has spoken, then its decision or order, however perverse or blatantly wrong it way be, establishes, again with binding force, the law on the point in issue, unless and until it is reversed on appeal by a higher court (Nwabueze 2009:84). Neither the government nor anyone else has the power or the right to substitute and apply their own view of the law or preference to that of the court in a matter affecting the lives. affairs and actions of other people.
“To admit nut any such power or – right in anyone, the government included, would only lead to anarchy, to the substitution of the rule of the jungle for the rule of law.
There is a linkage between courts and politics. Politics in this context does not carry the pejorative connotation of “jobbery” or “partisan manipulations.” It refers to the processes concerned with the authoritative determination of a society is goals and ideals, the distribution of rights duties costs, benefits, rewards, and punishments among members of that society. The courts and judges are, to a greater or lesser extent. major participants in there processes: their role is, however, secondary and subsidiary to that of the real policy-forming instruments of government the executive and the legislative.
The unprecedented split in the Nigerian presidency in 2006 is a breach of the unity of the executive. The principle of a single executive under the Nigerian presidency in 2006 is a breach of the unity of the executive. The principle of a single executive under the presidential system presupposes that for the purpose of election, a vice presidential candidate is “mated with the presidential candidate as in a marriage” (Nwabueze 2004:77) and “(A)s with two persons joined together in marriage, the electoral mating of the one to the other creates a kind of union or companionship between then in which the vice president is to stand or fall with the president” (ibid).
The seven cases reviewed in this book collectively or severally highlight one or other of the perspectives discussed above.
All things considered. I agree with Justice Dahiru Musdapher that this book is well-researched and chronicled “which makes it a worthy epithet to all lawyers and political actors”. I too commend the profound hard work that has been put into its writing. The book is a worthy addition to the growing body of informed and authoritative literature on Nigerian constitutional Law and democratic governance. Lawyers, law teachers and students alike, journalists, historians, political scientists, sociologists, public policy analysts, indeed, anyone who takes intelligent interest in the role of law in public affairs will find the book useful. I have no hesitation whatsoever recommending it to all.
