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Tag: matters arising

  • Matters arising

    Matters arising

    IT IS EARLY DAYS yet in the new year, but things have been happening at dizzying speed. The American President Donald Trump’s invasion of Venezuela; the coming of the tax law; the political gerrymandering of Governor Seyi Makinde and former Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun; and the unfolding developments on the political scene have started to shape 2026.

    From nowhere, the United States (U.S.) invaded oil-rich Venezuela last Saturday, snatched President Nicolas Maduro, his wife, Cilia Flores, and flew them to New York, where they are now facing trial for narcotic and other related offences. The invasion has defined the beginning of the year like no other issue has.

    Trump is still hungry for more territories. He is eyeing Cuba, Colombia, Mexico and Greenland, which is under the sovereignty of Denmark in Europe. The world is on edge as Trump continues in his desperate bid to use the American might to oppress, suppress, and depress other countries. What does he want? His fellow American compatriots too cannot say. Many of them are not happpy with the image he is giving their country, but they cannot do anything to stop him.

    His allies are comfortable with him. Allies like Marco Rubio and Stephen Miller can die for him. They have lauded his invasion of Venezuela, describing him as “a talk and do president”. “When this president says he is going to do something, you had better listen because he will surely do it”, Rubio enthused on television shortly after the invasion, which Trump described as “watching television”.

    How can any person reduce the invasion of another country’s territorial integrity to ‘watching television’. That is Trump for you. He poses as the fighter for the rights of the oppressed in some countries, but does the opposite elsewhere where assets that he wants to acquire are at stake. After the invasion, he says U.S. would ‘run’ Venezuela and has warned its new president, Delcy Rodriguez, to play along with him or suffer a fate worse than Maduro’s. Will the world just watch and allow him to annex Greenland too?

    All of a sudden because of the tax law which implementation began seven days ago, almost every Nigerian has become a bean counter. We now look at everything in terms of the cost of tax. If I do this or that, how much tax will I pay? This is the question they now ask. It is not everything that is taxable. You will not pay tax on food or recharge cards or data. You will only pay tax on your income.

    Anything that does not come to you as income is not taxable. Money transferred to you to help a friend buy a car, build a house or for your personal use is not taxable. The stamp duty for transfer hitherto known as electronic money transfer levy will be paid by the sender. The charge is N50 for every transfer above N10000. The pay as you earn (PAYE) deducted from monthly salary has been reworked to exempt certain class of workers from income tax payment.

    Read Also: 2027: Reps Deputy Speaker drums support for Tinubu, says Igbo must extend handshake to southwest

    Those earning N800000 and below per annum are exempted from payment. Workers will now pay tax on salary above the N800000 threshold. If you are earning N900000, N1 million and so on, you pay tax calculated on the N100000, N200000 et al, that is above the N800000 mark. This means that high income earners will pay more tax in order to bring relief to the poor, who earn little or nothing.

    The beauty of the law is its provision for the Tax Ombudsman whose job, among others, is to ensure that none is unduly taxed or ripped off. Government should ensure that the ombudsman does his job effectively and efficiently without delay. Complaints should not be allowed to drag too long, otherwise the purpose of having the office, which I believe will be in all the 36 states and Abuja, will be defeated.

    Makinde is fighting to extricate himself from a self-inflicted problem over the Bodija explosion fund. Former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose said Makinde got N50 billion from the Federal Government. Makinde said it was N30 billion. Whether N50 billion or N30 billion why did Makinde have to wait for Fayose’s exposè  before he told the world about the N30billion? So, if Fayose did not say anything, Makinde and his administration would have kept quiet about the fund and pretended that all is well after spending N4.5 billion out of it, without mentioning the source of the money?

    The affairs of a democratic government are not run like that. Did the governor even tell the House of Assembly about the money? Was the N4.5 billion disbursed with the lawmakers’ appropriation? The governor’s claim that a certain percentage of the N20 billion balance is being demanded before release is an afterthought. Why did he not cry out before the Fayose revelation? Did he undertake the recent changes in his executive council because of a leak about  this development?

    Kemi Adeosun has found her voice years after she resigned as finance minister over a fake National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate. She said her resignation was not admission of guilt. Is that so? Did she use a fake NYSC discharge certificate or not? Use of fake documents is an offence. If she is sure of what she is saying, she can ask that the case be reopened for investigation. Otherwise, she should let sleeping dogs lie.

    The political scene is bubbling ahead of 2027. Peter Obi has defected from Labour Party (LP) to African Democratic Congress (ADC).Will he get the party’s 2027 presidential ticket? Can he still count on the support of the Obi-dients, the vociferous movement on social media with little electoral value? How many votes can those openly identifying with his defection to ADC give him? How strong politically is the man who says he would withdraw his support for him if he does not get ADC’s ticket? Some people just like to sound off!

    Let’s sign off on Rivers and its potentialities for the 2027 elections. Will Governor Siminilayi Fubara get a second term ticket on his new platform, APC? If he does, can he win? Can his estranged godfather, who is Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike stop him from getting APC ticket or determine who becomes the next governor? All eyes are on the state as to how these issues and the bigger presidential contest will play out in 2027. These are early days yet, but they are pointers to what to expect next year.

  • Anambra 2019 High Court Rules: Matters arising

    Following agitation by the committee of branch chairmen and secretaries of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Anambra State for amendment of the Anambra State 2019 High Court Rules, an Awka lawyer Kingsley Awuka examines the issues.

    I have just read a circular signed by the Chief Registrar of the High Court of Anambra State calling for memoranda for the review or amendment of the 2019 High Court Rules of Anambra State.

    I have also read a follow-up note from the Chairman of Committee of Chairmen of Branches of NBA in Anambra State urging members to submit memoranda for the amendment of the Rules. The Chairman said that they had urged the Ag CJ to suspend the Rule pending the outcome of the amendment.

    I feel compelled to ask: what areas of the rules are we particularly required to submit memoranda and suggestions on for the purposes of the amendment? Is it the new High Court Rules or the Magistrate Court Rules?

    What aspects of the Rules are we agitating against? To me, the new Magistrate Court Rules is what requires drastic attention regarding various fees prescribed therein.

    I have taken my time to look at the Schedule of filing and other fees prescribed in the 2019 High Court Rules. There is an increase from N7,500 to N10,000 for filing of claim for specified sum of N5million and above, a difference of N2,500.

    Other fees were also slightly increased from N500 to N1000; N1000 to N2000 etc. Some fees remained the same. I do not think that those slight increases in the High Court Rules should generate this heat.

    Apart from the fee schedule, the only other thing new in the new High Court Rules is Order 4 which has created among others the Assistant Chief Registrar (ACR) Evaluation and the Anambra Multi-Door Courts. What is wrong with this new and commendable innovation please?

    Sometimes ago, the immediate past CJ advertised for the appointment of a Deputy Chief Registrar (DCR) Evaluation. He restricted the Application to Magistrates who were 10 years post call and above. Only very few Magistrates applied. Others ignored the advertisement and refused to apply.

    The Applications and recruitment process followed strictly the laid down procedure of the State Judicial Service Commission. After  the appointment and swearing in of the Magistrates that were successful, other senior magistrates suddenly woke up from their slumber and started complaining that most of the Magistrates appointed as DCR Evaluation were their juniors.

    And this is how the agitation for the review of the New High Court Rules started. The target of the agitation is to expunge order 4 of the Rules that created DCR Evaluation! Some have even asked that the already sworn in DCRs should be sent back to their magisterial positions.

    I remember that for three days, our courts were shut down when the immediate past CJ called for stake-holders’ summit on the final review of the New High Court Rules. This present regime of NBA Chairmen and Secretaries were already in power then.

    They were invited and they attended and participated in Summit that eventually gave a nod of approval of the new High Court Rules. Do we take it that they did not notice those areas they are now agitating against?

    Immediately after the voluntary retirement of the immediate past CJ, the Ag. CJ suspended the new Rules and issued some Practice Directions. Our leaders (Chairmen and Secretaries) did not use the opportunity to iron out the grey areas of the Rules. After the new Rules was re-enacted, their agitation commenced with added vigour.

    I have spoken to some notable members of the Committee that reviewed the Rules. What I gathered was that the new Magistrate Court Rules is outrageous in terms of new fees prescribed therein. A blanket reference to the “Court Rules” is not appropriate for a call for memoranda.

    Which areas are the NBA not comfortable with and why? The NBA agitation initially attacked the prescribed fees, but I doubt now whether they are sticking to change of regime of fees alone. I remember urging the NBA not to relent in pressing for the change in fees by all means including calling for boycott of court. Now, I think we need to be informed in clear terms what NBA is now fighting against in the New High Court Rules.

    I will appeal to the Chairman of Chairmen, who incidentally is our Branch Chairman, to be circumspect in this struggle. Let us not oppress people while appearing as if we are fighting the course of people. This was how the Customary Court of Appeal was scrapped, and the rest has now become history!

  • UAE robbery: Matters arising

    Since last week, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, Hon. AbikeDabiri-Erewa, has been criticised for releasing the names of the five Nigerians arrested for robbing a Bureau De Change to the tune of Dh 2.3 million in the Sharjah Area of Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The robbers were caught on CCTV and the incident was circulated around the world.  In fact, one of them had only just arrived the country. The ex-federal lawmaker had, in a statement by her special assistant, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, given the names of the suspects as Chimuanya Emmanuel Ozoh, Benjamin NwachukwuAjah, Kingsley IkennaNgoka, Tochukwu Leonard Alisi, Chile Micah Ndunagu. The suspects’ action, she said, was “despicable and shameful,” bringing the country to disrepute. Earlier in a tweet, she had said: “We need to tell our brothers behaving badly to behave. Let’s get the names of those involved to name and shame them.”

    To all intents and purposes, Dabiri-Erewa’s postulations are completely free of ethnic stereotyping. From all the available records, at no time has the presidential aide ever called out errant Nigerians on the basis of their ethnic group or religious affiliation. Crucially, her latest statement that is gradually being misconstrued by mischief makers contains no suggestion of ethnic or religious stereotyping, but merely suggested a globally recognized strategy for tackling crimes in the country. The world over, naming and shaming is deployed to unmask criminals masquerading as patriots, be they drug traffickers or sex offenders.

    In the United States for example, there are usually calls for women falsely accusing men of sexual assault to be named and shamed in order to deter those intent on pursuing a similar course of action. These calls become strident particularly in cases where those wrongly accused had already served punishment for a crime they never committed, only for the truth to emerge after their release.

    Pray, how is naming and shaming criminals equal to ethnic stereotyping? Are the critics suggesting that they are proud of the robbers who brought monumental shame to the country and battered its already sullied image in the UAE simply because they are a particular ethnic group? Interestingly, even in the tweet earlier referenced, Dabiri-Erewa still referred to criminally minded compatriots as “our brothers,” urging every Nigerian to name and shame them. Is it not better to name and shame those who cause innocent Nigerians untold misery on foreign soil with their aberrant behaviours instead of mollycoddling them because they belong to our ethnic cleavages? The endless suffering that innocent Nigerians experience at the hands of racist law enforcement officers abroad is public knowledge, but how can such Nigerians make a valid case in the face of the monumental crimes committed by their fellow Nigerians almost on a daily basis? How do you persuade the British public, for instance, that an officer conducting a search on your person in a rather offensive manner is actually racist when your own flesh and blood continues to feed the prejudices of such officers with their unholy acts?

    On the other hand, President Muhammadu Buhari and Mrs Dabiri-Erewa have always lauded Nigerians who do well abroad. The president himself has always interacted with such Nigerians and commended them whenever he travels abroad, encouraging them to do more because only Nigerians who are law-abiding, who have genuine businesses and who are contributing positively to the economy of their respective countries of residence can give Nigeria dignity, honour and prestige. What is bad in celebrating the good and condemning the bad? In any case, over the years, Dabiri-Erewa has spoken out consistently in favour of Nigerians maltreated abroad, whether through xenophobic attacks in South Africa or over false allegations in India. Dabiri-Erewa is on record as vigorously protesting the killing of 116 Nigerians in South Africa in 2017 and this year, the closure of shops owned by Nigerians in Ghana, among others.

    Now with respect to the issue of Nigerians arrested for drugs in Saudi Arabia, according to media reports, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been alerted on the impending fate of 23 Nigerians on the death row in Saudi Arabia (apart from the 11 serving various jail terms for drug trafficking in the kingdom) but did nothing about the privileged information. The Consul-General wrote twice to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, namely on December 3, 2018 and February 6, raising the alarm over the plight of Nigerians and asking him to use Nigeria’s diplomatic bond with Saudi Arabia to seek pardon for all our compatriots condemned to death and for those serving various jail terms. The media report also drew attention to the security lapses at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, which is being used for massive drug trafficking. Members of a syndicate in cahoots with greedy airline officials at MAKIA were checking in extra bags containing prohibited drugs, using the particulars of innocent passengers and baggage tags to smuggle drugs, with this leading to the arrest of Nigerians who had no links with drug trafficking.

    Said the report: “The outcome of investigations by the Nigeria Police and NDLEA absolved these victims of complicity in the crime of peddling drugs into the Kingdom. The investigations further established beyond reasonable doubt that the victims were unaware of the drug-laden baggage that were checked in bearing their particulars by unknown persons at MAKIA, Kano.”

    What has been done to put paid to this ugly trend?

    If a memo of such magnitude that involves human life was sent to the foreign affairs ministry four months ago, what then happened? Did the minister get the memo and if he did, what steps did he take to save Nigerians on death row? Why couldn’t the minister take a cue from his predecessor, OjoMadueke who, on being informed that the Indonesian government was going to execute some Nigerians for drug trafficking, met with officials of that government and pleaded with them to temper justice with mercy? Even though the Indonesian authorities did not accept the plea, they at least admitted that they had been under tremendous pressure from the Nigerian government and, what is more, Nigerians themselves agreed that there was nothing more that their government could have done to save the condemned Nigerians. They saw the government in action working to protect the interests of Nigerian nationals. Why couldn’t the minister at least have initiated a meeting with his counterpart in Saudi Arabia?

    Besides, what is the role of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and sister agencies at our airports in all of this? Why is it so easy to get drugs out of Nigeria? Could it be that these agencies have been severely comprised by drug barons or is it that drug detection facilities are obsolete? For how long are things going to remain this way? Unless and until these questions are satisfactorily answered, stories of Nigerians executed for crimes abroad will persist. It can only be hoped that patriots like Dabiri-Erewa will continue to speak out against crime and not be deterred by the antics of ethnic jingoists and apologists of crime.

    Sadly, amidst the outcry over the planned execution of 23 Nigerians, yet another Nigerian, SaheedSobade, is facing the prospect of death in Saudi Arabia after reportedly being nabbed with 1,183 grams of cocaine powder in Jeddah, a Saudi Arabian port city on the Red Sea. KudiratAfolabi, unfortunately, is one of the Nigerians that have been sentenced to death. They all had drugs hidden in their bodies. This madness has to stop. Drug traffickers must realise that they face the prospect of certain death. Crime has no ethnic group and no religion and must be addressed with all the arsenals at the country’s disposal. Drug traffickers must have a rethink. Failure to do that can only spell doom for themselves and their families in particular and the nation at large.

     

    • Isibor contributes this piece from University of Benin, Edo State.

     

  • Matters arising from 2019 elections (1)

    What will Atiku challenging Buhari’s wide margin of victory do to hurt the country’s political system?

    Matters or, better still, problems arising from the 2019 elections—national and subnational—will undoubtedly vary from observer to observer; however, such matters must be in the hundreds. But now thuggery surfaces at every election season. A situation in which a few politicians and their many thugs turn what should have been a democratic ritual into a theatre of war ought to be stopped.

    Between 1959 and 1979, thugs featured prominently in pre-election activities. Many opposition party agents were even prevented from entering many cities in the North to campaign for their candidates, especially in the days of Action Group/Unity Party of Nigeria (AG/UPN) and Northern Peoples Congress/National Party of Nigeria (NPC/NPN). In the South, party thugs, generally male, even entered polling booths with stomachs pregnant with votes for delivery into ballot boxes. Snatching of ballot boxes by thugs of various political parties ready to disappear amidst sporadic shooting into the air that we still witness today was popular in the 1960s. But in 1993, the intensity of thuggery went down noticeably, to the extent that the Babangida-organised elections that would have brought MKO Abiola to the presidency was adjudged locally and internationally as the freest, fairest, and most credible general elections in the country. Though not adjudged to be as free and fair as the 1993 election, the election organised by Abdulsalaam Abubarkar in 1999 did not take us back to the absurdity of the 1960s.

    But from 2003 till 2019, hoodlums seemed to have returned to electioneering with vengeance. More than ever before, the so-called principal political parties have condoned brigandage in the days before, during, and even after elections. No part of the country has been spared from election-related violence in the last three weeks. I have relations who came back to the country to vote for the second time in a row since 2015.  Enamoured of the Not too Young to Run legislation, one of them came this time with a younger brother who was not old enough to vote in 2015. But the story from the two young men has been since February 23 about the need for the legislature to pass a law authorising Nigerians abroad to vote at the nearest embassy to them. The young men cite the sight of young men carrying knives, daggers, and charms in open vehicles from village to village, without being stopped by the police.

    Although there are jingles every election season warning young men not to allow themselves to be used by politicians to commit crime, the role of thuggery in our electioneering is not as simple as it may appear. Young men with parents in the same socio-economic bracket with politicians are hardly in the gangs of thugs that cause tension during election seasons. It is children of poor people that are hired to serve as hoodlums. Politicians who hire hoodlums and the young men who accept to be hired as thugs share equal responsibility in the matter. But the politicians are more to blame for taking advantage of economically vulnerable citizens.

    The country’s law enforcement agency needs to be asked why thugs seem to overpower police during elections. Given the noise made about drafting of thousands of police, security personnel, and even members of the military to states to prevent breakdown of law, the reports of breakdown of law in some cities in different parts of the country should not have happened. There are signs that the police system the country is operating may not have been designed to solve many of the problems facing the country. And getting a police model that can control community-specific crimes like thuggery requires special attention after the elections. We do not need to wait for electoral law reforms before we respond to the rise of thuggery in the country’s political culture. The impunity of hoodlums, such as occurs when thugs openly threaten to pour acid on selected targets or thugs of political parties brazenly throw objects at national officers at election rallies suggests that there is urgent need to rethink law enforcement in the country.

    President Buhari’s promise to apply additional energy to security of the land in his last term is good news and citizens should stay on the president’s case on this matter, because four years is not a long time in a country facing myriads of problems. It is not clear if the president’s definition of security includes ridding the country’s streets of thugs. Many people interviewed about low turnout of voters during the recent presidential election in the Southwest cited fear of thugs as one reason for staying home on election days. Expecting 450,000 police to enforce law in a country of about 200 million people and with rudimentary police communication is not good enough for the task at hand. In addition, a centralised police system in which most police officers do not speak the language of the average citizen in their beat does not seem to be the most effective way to secure a country of multiple languages.

    As if it was not enough for thugs to scare innocent voters, several political parties have complained in the last few weeks that the posters of their candidates were destroyed by political opponents. Such hooliganism was evident in Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta during the presidential and the recently concluded gubernatorial elections. I was told that the same thing happened in many other Yoruba cities. Undoubtedly, such acts of hooliganism must have been encouraged by thugs-loving politicians. It is the fear of different political messaging that could have encouraged this kind of misbehaviour on the part of politicians and their hoodlums. Marketing of candidates is part of the game and should not be aborted by hoodlums.

    A new development from the last presidential election to watch is the new enthusiasm by cultural leaders to appeal to any presidential candidate from going to court. It is good for traditional rulers and members of National Peace Committee or Council to congratulate the winner of an election. But what purpose is to be served by such leaders begging Atiku not to go to court? Isn’t the provision of going to court by anyone who feels aggrieved designed to add further legitimacy to our political system?  President Buhari went to court three times before he became president in 2015.

    What will Atiku challenging Buhari’s wide margin of victory do to hurt the country’s political system? Appealing to Atiku not to go to court can be misunderstood as giving him the impression that the country believes that Atiku has been wronged. This kind of ‘peace effort’ on the part of cultural leaders is not good for enhancing democratic culture in the country. We should always allow due process to work. This move may have worked with Jonathan four years ago, but it should not be an approach to use every four years. Otherwise, it may become a part of the country’s informal post-election culture.

    Persuading Atiku not to go to court can give the impression that our leaders do not believe in the country’s judicial system. It was not for nothing that separation of powers was conceived as one of the checking and balancing devices to stabilize democratic governance. Nobody should be given the chance to believe that he has a strong case that cultural leaders are afraid of. Such fears are not good for electoral democracy. Nothing should be done to make Atiku or any other presidential candidate feel that he or she has been cheated. It is not even good for Buhari’s victory or his confidence for any group or agency to plead with Atiku not to go to court. Unwittingly, cultural leaders involved in sending emissaries to Atiku may send a wrong signal: that they know what ordinary Nigerians do not know about results of the presidential elections. It is reassuring that APC has vowed to meet Atiku in court.

  • Onnoghen: Matters arising

    The  six-count corruption charge levelled against the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has sparked a debate for Nigerians at home and in the diaspora.

    This phenomenon is a first of its kind in Nigeria, and has divided Nigerians across board. Some argue that the timing is wrong; others claim that the investigation is politically motivated and reeks of partisanship and sectionalism.

    The recent tide of events has made me question our priorities as a nation. Do we really care for accountable leadership? Or are we unconsciously sacrificing national values on the altar of tribalistic, sectionalist ideals and values. My first question is, is there a right time to tackle corruption? If yes, when is the best time? If no, why are we focused on the timing of the investigation and not the crime?

    I have a few more questions for my fellow citizens. Is the embattled Chief Justice Onnoghen innocent of the allegations levelled against him? My answer is yes, and he admitted to it by giving a flimsy excuse for it: “he forgot”. As the CJN, prior to his appointment, has he ever, as a member of the bench, an illustrious judge acquitted a guilty person on the basis of forgetfulness or ignorance? I remember the popular legal parlance “ignorance is not an excuse”, dare I ask the CJN if he is not aware of this?

    Let us be honest with ourselves: is Chief Justice Onnoghen the only high-profile person occupying office that the CCT has gone after? No, the number three citizen, president of the Senate, Bukola Saraki sat in office throughout his investigation, and is still occupying that position after the investigation. The fact is, no one has come out to say the CJN is innocent. The ordinary Nigerian, various professionals, his fellow legal luminaries and other high-profile individuals have not denied his wrongdoings.

    Here is the procedure stipulated by the 1999 Constitution for the removal of judicial officers from office: The Third Schedule, Part 1 of the 1999 Constitution stipulates how a judicial officer may be removed from office. It states: “The National Judicial Council (NJC) shall have power to recommend to the President the removal from office of the judicial officers specified in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph, and to exercise disciplinary control over such officers.

    The officers listed therein are the CJN, Justices of the Supreme Court, the President and Justices of the Court of Appeal, the Chief Judges and Judges of the Federal High Court.  iIn Section 292 paragraph 1, there are four points. It says the Chief Justice can be removed by the President for unfitness for office, either physical, mental, misconduct and, finally, that he has broken the Code of Conduct.”

    The President can remove him if he does all this. Before removing him, he has to send his name to the Senate and if the Senate adopts the proposal of the President by two-thirds of the majority, then the President can finally remove him.

    Now the question is: why did he suspend him before sending his name to the Senate? The answer is, he has not removed him. He has merely suspended him because there is serious charge against him and he ought not to be in office. He will now send the name to the Senate and it will be deliberated upon. If they confirm the President’s charge, then that is when he stands removed.

    If they fail to confirm it, then the CJN is restored to office. This is an imminently fair and balanced approach, especially given that the constitution and other laws really do not provide clear guidance in how to proceed in a case whether the CJN is the defendant under this unique fact pattern” (Bola Ahmed Tinubu, January 28, 2019) if the CJN is exonerated, then he will return to his position.

    I am tired of the reckless and ignorant bickering coming from and within the opposition party about the legality of this suspension. The truth still remains that the majority of this mudslinging is coming from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who for selfish reasons have decided to tie a rope around the average Nigerians’ neck and figuratively lead them to the slaughterhouse. It is important that the certain elements within the PDP recheck their dictionaries, and possibly the constitution before they come out guns blazing, carrying cutlasses to a gunfight.

    They need to research, and ascertain the difference between being sacked and being conditionally suspended. In this case, this conditional suspension is on the basis of exoneration. We see the reach of anti-nationalistic tendencies in the PDP as they capitalise on the delicate nature of this case, cause political mayhem in the country by sponsoring the rapid spread of panic, screaming at the rooftop,tyranny, tyranny.

    There is an admission of guilt on the CJN’s part, a clear indication that of a wrongdoing, some may even argue an indication of corruption. Should we then turn a blind-eye to this misconduct because it is a sin that is familiar to the PDP? Or ignore it because “it is wrong timing”?.

    Then again why is the PDP after the reinstatement of the CJN, especially before the elections my compatriots? Have we all wondered? Is it coming from a place of love or great concern for our great nation?

    It is so disheartening that after courageously standing up to the British to gain independence from their colonization, we, at the slightest internal conflict or disagreement go knocking on the doors of the European Union (EU), United States or the very British that we fought for our independence.

    It is similar to couples consistently and constantly seeking the input of in-laws, siblings, friends and community members for help on every small domestic matter. Over time, that marriage will become public property. We are an independent nation, how long will our elected officials keep soliciting foreign interference in our national/domestic politics?

    In conclusion, I would advise Nigerians, foot soldiers, the Peoples democratic Party (PDP), and agents of mass propaganda, to focus on campaigning with facts rather than half-baked truths, unscrupulous and unbecoming information. We cannot over-emphasise the power of social media and publicity in campaigns, but it is also important to know that elections are not won on social media.

     

    • Ezerika is Coordinator, All Progressive Congress (APC), Sweden.

     

     

  • Judiciary and matters arising

    We have to presage this interaction with a simple act of lifting the veil over the undeserved legal summersault with which some of our colleagues have embarked upon clearly not because they genuinely wanted to protect the rule of law but much more for their self-preservation. The fact that Justice Onnoghen-supporting lawyers were involved in Forum Shopping of Various Courts to secure favourable ex parte orders to prevent the trial of Justice Onnoghen clearly expose them as not acting in the best tradition of credible bar but for their private interest. They knew that the Federal and Abuja High Courts are of equal jurisdiction with that of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT. Yet they misadvised themselves in making Justice Onnoghen to be absent at his trial that was legally set.

    Furthermore, the senior lawyers who are presumed to know the court rules used their seniority status to force an instant ruling from the court on the same date they approached the appellate court. They were aware of their undue haste that undermined the ordinary processes stipulated in the rules of the Court of Appeal.

    No doubt, there is no perfection in humanity. Our intervention on this Justice Onnoghen’s matter does not suggest that we are formulating an interrogation that cast some public officers as angels while others are demons. Who knows who among the handlers of this matter is himself/herself not neck deep in various act of corruption? As the saying goes, every day is for the thief but one day is for the owner. Their own day of reckoning could come sooner than they expect it.

    There have been various pontifications on due process. The argument that Justice Onnoghen should have been reported to the NJC (which Onnoghen presides over) to comply with the Court of Appeal ruling (yet to be adjudicated upon by the Supreme Court) in Justice Ngajiwa’s case that implies that no charges can be brought against a judicial officer until his matter has been tried by the NJC remains a misguided premise. Is the NJC now investing itself with police power of investigation?

    Insisting on the Appeal Court’ ruling in Justice Ngajiwa’s case would amount to accepting that it is right and acceptable that the judiciary can  resort to illegality by clothing judicial officers with immunity to which other public officers are not covered. In other words, the Engineers, Medical Doctors, Architects, Teachers, Farmers, Pharmacists etc. councils should first decide the fate of their members who commit crimes and other misdemeanours before the constitutional provisions can apply to them. That will certainly lead to absurdity which the law wants to avoid at all times.

    The partisan politicians and their lawyers have abandoned substance to chasing shadow to make us a laughing stock globally. They have rather held on to a tenuous technicality contained in Ngajiwa’s matter that is still in contention because it will certainly lead to absurdity of monumental dimension. All other professional bodies can equally insist that the Nigerian Law will only apply to their members who had contravened a particular law after their organizations have tried their members.

    The collaborating senior lawyers should have refreshed themselves with the authoritative judgement of Chief Justice Onnoghen delivered on July 12, 2013 in Ismael Ahmed and AlhajiNasiru Ahmed, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Kano State Chairman and the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC). Interpreting paragraph 12 of the Fifth Schedule  of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as regards CCT’s jurisdiction, Justice Onnoghen held:”‘ the said paragraph 12 provides as follows: any allegation that a public officer has committed a breach of or has not complied with the provisions of this Code shall be made to the Code of Conduct Bureau.

    (b) “The foregoing provisions are clearly unambiguous and so construed literally mean that any breach of any provisions of the said Fifth schedule or matters of noncompliance with any provision of the Code shall, (meaning that it is mandatory i.e. must) be made to the Code of Conduct Bureau that has established its Tribunal with the exclusive jurisdiction to deal with any violations of any provision under the Code.”

    © “If I may emphasise, any violation shall be made to Code of Conduct Bureau. The provisions have made it mandatory to take any matters so covered by the Fifth Schedule (supra) to the Code of Conduct Bureau and not to any ordinary regular Courts as has been done in this instance.”

    (d) “If I may repeat, the Code of Conduct Tribunal has been established with the exclusive jurisdiction to deal with all violations contravening any of the provisions of the Code as per paragraph 15(1). This provision has expressly ousted the powers of ordinary regular Courts in respect of such violations.”

    (e)”The Tribunal to the exclusion of other courts is also empowered to impose any punishments as specified under sub-paragraph (2) (a), (b) & (c) of the paragraph 18 as provided in sub-paragraph 3 and 4 of paragraph 18 while appeals shall lie as of right from such decisions to the Court of Appeal.”

    (f)”Simply put, to tackle any violation of the Code starts before the Code of Conduct Bureau Tribunal to the Court below on appeal and on a further appeal there from to this Court.”

    (g) “As can be seen, the lower Courts exercise appellate jurisdiction over the Code of Conduct Tribunal and no more.”

    The fact that Justice Onnoghen failed to appear before the CCT when in fact the Bailiffs gave evidence that Justice Onnoghen asked that the summons should be collected on his behalf by one of his aides is unfortunate. And to show that he was aware of the summons, his lawyers converged on the court to raise objections- first that he was not personally served and second that the Code of Conduct is incompetent to try the Chief Justice of Nigeria demonstrate Justice Onnoghen’s utter contempt for the judiciary he presided over. Instead, he obeyed the advice of the PDP governors of the South-south not to attend to the CCT hearing. In other words, he became a partisan agent serving as the head of Nigerian judiciary. How can the other political parties trust him as an impartial arbiter?

    The consequences of his failure to appear before the CCT have far reaching consequences. Perhaps, the CJN is above the law or he is a law to himself.

    Again, let us reiterate that the violation/non-declaration of asset declaration provisions as contained in the Fifth Schedule, Part 1 of the 1999 Constitution was a misconduct not done in the performance of Justice Onnoghen official duty. It is therefore not a matter constitutionally expected to be referred to the National Judicial Council, NJC, as is being wrongly suggested by political opponents of the government and perhaps innocently by those who are ignorant of the law.

    Furthermore, that Justice Onnoghen having admitted in his own statement to have violated the law and yet wants to remain as the head of the judiciary is unfortunate. It further explains the degeneration to which Nigerian judiciary has sank in recent years. How can Justice Onnoghen preside over any matter violating the provisions of the constitution when he has been caught red handed as a violator but hoping to hang on to the unfounded technicality to remain in office?

    It is in the best interest of Nigeria and Nigerian judiciary that Justice Onnoghenresign immediately so as to save us of the national embarrassment that his conduct has occasioned.

     

    • Opadokun is convener, Movement for Value Restoration.

  • Ugwuanyi: Matters arising

    For a better appreciation of the tenure of Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s administration in Enugu State, it will be rational to assess its stewardship from the standpoint of the nation’s economic adversities when the governor took over the mantle of leadership in May 29, 2015.

    When the governor assumed office, the country was in recession and confronted with various degrees of economic challenges as a result of drastic drop in the crude oil prices which adversely affected the state’s allocations from the federation account.

    This recurring decimal of paucity of funds, coupled with the inherited debt profile and other huge wage bills to be serviced, no doubt posed a serious threat to the speedy actualization of the government’s well-thought-out vision for the people of the state as contained in its four-point agenda.

    Enugu State was among the worst hit, considering that it is third from the bottom of the revenue allocation chart from the federation account and predominantly a civil service state with high expectations for socio-economic expansion borne out of its enviable status as the historical capital of the Eastern region, old Anambra State, old Enugu State and capital of the present Enugu State.

    The situation was really a source of worry to the extent that the immediate past governor of the state, His Excellency, Sullivan Chime, during the thanksgiving Mass to commemorate the end of his administration, acknowledged that Enugu’s purse was growing leaner as federal allocations dwindled to an all-time low.

    The nation’s economic challenges then was so bad that 27 states, Enugu State excluded, could not pay workers’ salaries, not to talk of embarking on capital projects. The era of sharing of excess crude oil funds which enabled past governments at the state and local government levels to execute sundry capital projects became a thing of the past as the governors resorted to bailout funds from the federal government to enable them to meet up the basic pressing needs of paying workers’ salaries and execution of projects, among others.

    They were consequently tagged “bailout governors” and the burning question then was “is this the best time to be a governor?”

    But, Gov. Ugwuanyi in his wisdom, and passion for wellbeing of the people as well as rapid development of the state, remained undaunted in his vision to build Enugu State of the founding fathers’ dreams – to deploy government services to create fair and equal opportunity for every willing citizen to make a living and create wealth, educate our children, and enjoy life in a peaceful and secure environment.

    In actualizing the lofty dreams, the people’s governor, constituted a 15-man Enugu State Economic Advisory Committee headed by Msgr. Obiora Ike, to advise his administration on the best policies that would engender sustainable economic growth to lead the state out of the nation’s economic crunch, through restructuring, re-engineering and reinvigoration of the state’s economy.

    The innovative approach gave birth to the first ever Enugu State Investment Summit christened “Oganiru Enugu State”, which was successfully organized to showcase the economic potentials of the state and woo investors.

    Recently, Enugu State was rated by the World Bank Group as the second most advanced state in Nigeria towards the frontier of global good practices with regards to Ease of Doing Business.

    On workers’ salary which was a major puzzle for most states, the story is quite different in Enugu State as workers continue to receive their pay on the 23rd of every month, even when it falls on a Saturday or Sunday. The state government last year paid the 13th month salary to its workers as Christmas bonus and also pays the pensioners on or before the end of the month.

    Through an impressive increase in the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), as a result of far reaching reforms introduced in the sector by the governor, this years’ June and July salaries were paid without the receipt of the federal allocations.

    At the peak of all these challenges, execution of capital development projects were going on speedily across the three senatorial districts, coupled with state government’s swift interventions on failed sections of federal roads in the state.

    Consequently, Gov. Ugwuanyi who was recently named the “2018 Sun Governor of the Year” for good governance; rapid rural development; traders and youth empowerments; nurturing of peace and harmony among the political class and critical support for security agencies, among others, has indeed kept faith with his campaign promises to the people of Enugu State.

    Presently, the state government has so far spent close to N50 billion on road construction and rehabilitation across the state, covering about 450 kilometres.

    Apart from road projects, the Gov. Ugwuanyi administration has also taken bold steps in other spheres of development which have endeared him to the people of the state and beyond and equally earned him a gale of endorsements for his re-election by virtually all strata of groups in the state, including the religious and traditional institutions.

    The areas include the traders empowerment scheme which has so far assisted 2400 genuine traders with the sum of N50,000 each to grow their various businesses; construction and renovation of over 589 primary and secondary school blocks in the state as well as procurement of learning tools and employment of over 4000 teachers; empowerment of 750 youths under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) programme.

    Others include, provision of 100 units one bedroom apartment for 100 lucky civil servants under grade level 1 to 10; rehabilitation of facilities at Ajali and Oji River Water Treatment Schemes which has consequentially improved the supply of water to Enugu metropolis and its environs; construction and renovation of district hospitals and health centres in the state, especially in the rural areas under the primary healthcare programme, such as the Poly Clinic, Asata, Enugu and Udi District Hospital; construction of  14 new court buildings and open registries in the judicial divisions and magisterial districts across the state, which the state’s Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Ngozi Emehelu, described as “unprecedented infrastructural development that has not been witnessed in the entire South East” and “the largest single intervention in infrastructural development in the Judiciary of Enugu State for over 20 years”; and other remarkable achievements too numerous to mention.

    On rural development and good governance, Gov. Ugwuanyi’s administration in line with its vision to create direct positive impacts on the lives of the masses, the long forgotten and neglected, channeled the bulk of its development projects to the rural areas – a clear and systematic departure from the past when most major achievements were concentrated in the urban areas.

    This vision which is novel in the state’s history was also in keeping with the governor’s inaugural address to “pay a special attention to rural development,” to open up the rural areas, create more urban centres, develop fresh economic opportunities and reduce pressure on Enugu metropolis for socio-economic expansion.

    Three months into his administration, Gov. Ugwuanyi spearheaded the massive development of urban and rural roads across the three senatorial districts of the state: in Emene, Abakpa-Nike, 9th Mile Corner and Nsukka – a University town founded over half a century ago and the second largest town in the state, among other satellite towns.

    Shortly after, his administration simultaneously executed 35 grassroots development projects across the 17 Local Government Areas of Enugu State, which ensured that every council benefited at least one project from the programme.

    Today, we have the N10 million “one community, one project” scheme, which has also recorded a huge success in expanding development to the frontiers of the rural areas – an initiative that has made it possible for communities to decide their priority projects, ensuring that areas that never experienced any government presence benefited, accordingly.  All these were going on as completion of works on projects started by the previous administration were given adequate attention, such as the state-of-the-art Enugu State Diagnostic Centre, (now completed) the first of its kind in the South East geo-political zone, established to create hospital chains to make Enugu the preferred destination for receiving high quality and affordable healthcare delivery in the country.

    Besides the foregoing, the following road projects were equally among the projects successfully delivered to standard by Gov. Ugwuanyi’s administration with special positive impact on the lives of the people, especially the lowly and long neglected.

    The two 9th Mile Bypasses in Udi Local Government Area, which have relieved travelers the stress of traffic gridlock in the area, especially during festivities. The Agbani-Amurri road in Nkanu West LGA, newly constructed for a community that has never experienced any form of development on its land in the past 100 years. The Ogonogoeji-Ndiagu-Akpugo road (from Atavu bailey bridge to Afor Onovo), in the same council, which has a historic and symbolic attraction as the first state government road project in the entire Akpugo zone since the creation of Enugu State.

    Another project that has a direct impact on the lives of the lowly and neglected is the Ngenevu road, which was constructed with the provision of two 500-KVA transformers by the governor for the suburb of Enugu that had not witnessed any form of government presence. Other high density and suburbs such as the Iva Valley, the Ugbodogwu, the Ogwuagor, Abakpa Nike, Emene, etc, have equally benefited.

    The story is the same in Eha-Amufu, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area – another long neglected agrarian community that is currently witnessing massive reconstruction of the Nkalagu-Eha Amufu road, after over 35 years of neglect.

    Not too long ago, Gov. Ugwuanyi’s administration ensured that Enugu State had additional five new state-of-the-art fire service stations across the three senatorial, districts after 56 years three stations were built in the state, then Eastern Region.

    The government has consistently been maintaining roads built by past administrations and has equally engaged 1000 youths under the Enugu Clean Team Project to clean up the state to enhance and sustain its rating as one of the healthier and cleanest cities in the country, among other landmark achievements. Enugu State is truly in the hands of God.

     

    • Amoke writes from Enugu State 

  • Orji Kalu and the revocation of bail: Matters arising

    Hon. Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High (and a Court of Appeal Justice-designate, having been elevated to the higher Bench), was obviously in a hurry to dispense with the case and move on.

    Section 396(7) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act(ACJA) of 2015 has given judges the leeway to conclude criminal matters even after the elevation of such a judge.

    396(7): “Notwithstanding the provision  of any other law to the contrary, a judge of the High Court who has been elevated to the Court of Appeal shall have dispensation to continue to sit as a High court Judge, only for the purpose of concluding any part-heard criminal matter, pending before him at the time of his elevation and shall conclude within  reasonable time, provided  that this section shall not prevent him from assuming duty as a Justice of the Court of Appeal”.

    This provision obviously was meant correct certain anomalies in criminal trials, whereby hitherto, when such elevation of judges occurred, it usually resulted in the cases being heard de novo (afresh from the beginning). This has caused lots of delays in criminal trials.

    On Monday, Justice Idris had revoked the bail of a former Governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Kalu, who is standing trial of alleged N3.2 billion fraud.

    Perhaps, it is necessary at this stage to give a brief background to the debacle.

    This case has dragged on for 11 years. That was before the enactment of the ACJA  in 2015, which to all intents and purposes, was meant to fast track criminal justice system and eliminate interlocutory appeals that hitherto were impediments to quick administration of Justice.

    Kalu is facing an amended 39- count charge, along with his former Commissioner  for Finance, Jones Udeogu and a company, Slok Nigeria Limited.

    On May 11, 2018, the EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN had closed the case of the prosecution after the conclusion of evidences by prosecution witnesses.

    Counsel to the defendants, Awa Kalu, SAN, on May  28, 2018 filed a no-case submission which was subsequently argued and dismissed by the judge, asking Kalu to open his defence.

    However, before the defendants could open their defence, their counsel, Goddy Uche, SAN had informed the court that the lead defence counsel, Awa Kalu, SAN, had written the court to the effect that the first defendant, Orji Kalu had a medical appointment in Germany, where he was to undergo a major surgery.

    He subsequently pleaded with the court to adjourn the matter to September 10, by which time the defendant would be in a position to open his defence.

    Justice Idris then adjourned the case to September 10 to enable the defendants open their defence. But that was not to be, as Kalu wasn’t back from his medical trip.

    The matter was further put off till November 5  when Kalu was still recuperating at a German hospital. His  counsel, Awa Kalu, SAN informed the court that his client was still recuperating in Germany, adding that the EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN was aware of the development.

    However, Jacobs expressed surprise that Kalu was absent, wondering whether Kalu obtained the court’s permission to travel.

    He accused Kalu for allegedly jumping bail.

    While the judge agreed with Awa Kalu that the case was adjourned sine die on September 27 but that hearing notice was served on Kalu on November 2,  a time Kalu was in a German hospital. The judge then adjourned the matter for the last time, giving Kalu a one week grace to be in court.

    This was not to be as Kalu was still in the German hospital. But the judge wasn’t impressed, leading him to revoke Kalu’s bail and adjourned the matter to January 23, 2019 to enable Kalu enough time to recuperate and be in court.

    That is the crux of the matter. The judge seemed to have contradicted himself. Having adjourned the matter to January 23 to enable the first defendant enough time to recuperate, with profound respect to the honourable judge, he ought not to have revoked the bail. Rather, he should have said that in view of the medical challenges of the first defendant, that he was adjourning the matter for the last time and that if Kalu refused to show up on January 23, he would revoke the bail. That should have been a more fairer decision than revoking his bail, even when there is enough evidence that the first defendant was in a German hospital.

    This is also particularly against the background of the fact that his counsel formally informed the EFCC of his planned medical trip.

    This case has dragged on for 11 years and it is instructive to note that throughout this period, the first defendant had never absented himself from trial. To me, the Hon. Judge ought to have adverted his mind to this.

    Perhaps, if the defendant had had a history of absenting himself in court in the course of the trial, that many have worked negatively against him but that was not the case.

    As a matter of fact, after the Supreme court dismissed his interlocutory appeal on March 19, 2016, Kalu had stated that it was welcome decision that his trial was about to start, stating that it provided him an opportunity to prove his innocence.

    My concern now is that as the trial is winding down, the judge may have inadvertently put a spanner in the works with this order of bail revocation because l foresee a possible application that the judge should recuse himself.

    That may invariably prolong a matter that should have ended in the first quarter of next year.

    It needs be noted that only the living can stand trial. A former Governor of Kogi state, Abubakar Audu who died three years ago was facing a 186 count charge of alleged corruption. The 186 count charge died along with him and the society is the loser.

    A little tarry by the judge till January 23 would have been more appropriate. But revoking his bail, while at the same time urging him to take his time to get fit till January 23, to me, sounds contradictory. It’s like taking with left hand, what you have with right hand. It’s unhelpful in the circumstance. If a defendant had made himself available for trial for11 years without jumping bail, the circumstances of the revocation of the bail seem high-handed.

    As the maxim goes, justice must not only be done but must be seen to have been done.

    While the judge may be eager to  be done with the case and go and take his seat at the Court of Appeal, I’m afraid the judge may have unwittingly played into the hands of the defendants where a possible application of recusing himself may be in the offing. Meanwhile, we keep our fingers crossed and watch as developments unfold.

     

    • Akinnola is the Editor-in-chief of CORRUPTION CASES DIGEST

  • Party primaries and matters arising

    Sir: Despite the 10-page rules and regulation produced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to guide the conduct of primary elections in Nigeria, politicians and their political parties continue to engage in the game of manipulating or violating guidelines. During the recently concluded party primaries, majority of delegates were less interested in the quality and competence of their candidates as the process became highly monetized. As a matter of fact, it was reported that delegates openly revealed that they are more interested in knowing the amount to be received than the quality of aspirants. Unfortunately, this trend of monetization of votes cuts across political parties.

    At the moment, there are political upheavals in some states as a result of irregularities in their party primaries. In Zamfara for example, this has led to an impasse between the APC and INEC. Also, in Kano and Imo states, the godfathers allegedly appointed their son in-laws to be the candidates. Whereas Kaduna state continues to endure the tussle between the governor and the senator representing Kaduna Central, first lady Aisha Buhari has been complaining of impunity in Adamawa.

    Delta and Oyo states amongst others, continue to swim in murky political waters. Automatic tickets and poor internal democracy amongst issues relating to exclusion of youth and women may also be the reason behind the political crisis in majority of the states.

    It is shocking that money continues to play major role in the eyes of the delegates than the integrity and quality of the candidates. The media in fact reported that money in foreign currencies was shared at the venue of PDP presidential primary in Port Harcourt. In the circumstance, the outcome could not have been determined by any other factor but the highest bidder.

    To make it worse, the political atmosphere is not favourable to young people especially women with the high cost of nomination forms demanded by political parties. This meant that most of the young people were seen in the venues of the primaries as either party delegates, mobilisers or ad-hoc staff but not as aspirants. This left the youths under the umbrella of unpopular political platforms, even though some people are of the opinion that popular candidates can contest in any party platforms but Nigerians are more interested in the party than the candidates.

    It is now left for the Nigerians to vote wisely and vote the candidates with integrity that will take this country to the promised land.

     

    • Idris Mohammed, Abuja.

  • Osun tie: Matters arising

    With the air across the national space currently fouled up by partisanship, there can never be a consensus on the propriety or otherwise of the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the Osun governorship polls of last Saturday inconclusive.

    The ongoing babel is certainly not helped by merchant lawyers who probably only see an opportunity to tout for briefs after the fact.

    Indeed, PDP’s Ademola Adeleke came tops with 254,698 votes; APC’s Gbeoyega scored 254,345 and SDP’s Iyiola Omisore polled 128,049 to finish third.

    In its own wisdom, INEC ruled that potential votes from seven polling units amounting to 3,498 (earlier set aside for sundry reasons) are now too significant to be overlooked given that PDP only led eventually with marginal 353 votes at the end of counting and collation Sunday morning. Hence, supplementary elections for September 27 to decide the winner between PDP and APC.

    Interestingly, a report had trended in the social media on Sunday purporting that erstwhile INEC boss, Professor Maurice Iwu, poohpoohed the idea of holding a re-run. But just as many began to wonder what moral credentials qualified him to so speak given the sheer outlawry that had defined his own stint as the nation’s chief electoral officer came a strident rebuttal by the man himself on Monday.

    Alas – another instance of fake news, thus exposing once more the increasing vulnerability of our airwaves to the vector of lies and disinformation.

    Well, putting the referenced distraction aside, to me, there are four preliminary takeaways from the last Saturday’s epic electoral battle in the province of the fabled “living spring”.

    By design or default, in terms of critical electoral weight, the stated seven polling units have somehow evoked the memory of “Modakeke-lization” now almost four-decades-old. Older generations of citizens might readily recall how Modekeke, a rustic town bordering the far more historic Ile-Ife, was literally conjured in the 1983 general polls by then ruling National Party of Party at the centre (largely seen as the ideological progenitor of today’s PDP) to perform a magic never seen in the nation’s electoral history.

    Noticing that the tally of figures from the provinces across the old Oyo State was tipping the scale in favor of rival Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), what NPN desperadoes simply did was to tender the results from Modakeke (considered their stranglehold) inflated on a scale that defied even sanity or reason: the stated figures were far in excess of all registered voters on FEDECO’s register in order to deliver Victor Olunloyo over the then incumbent Governor Bola Ige. (It is from the old Oyo State that Osun State descended.)

    Now, the 3,498 number has been summoned by providence to break the tie in the re-run.

    Secondly, the outcome of the last Saturday’s exercise offers sufficient ground to test the hypothesis of the popularity or otherwise of the two leading candidates within their respective parties. The results undoubtedly prove yet again that Adeleke still betters his arch rival in the PDP primaries. He had similarly scored a slim margin with 1,569 votes to defeat Akin Ogunbiyi who got 1562.

    But, taken together, it would have been more interesting had Iyiola Omisore not defected from PDP in the eleventh hour to seek the crown on SDP’s platform. He came third on Saturday with an impressive 128,049.

    As for APC’s Gboyega Oyetola, it is indeed another validation for the innovation of direct primaries being championed by the new national chair of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, with a view to banishing imposition and “restoring ownership back to real party members”.

    Oyetola’s arch rival in the APC’s shadow election was Moshood Adeoti, erstwhile Secretary to the State Government, who only scored 49,742 in the exercise on ADC’s platform. Having failed to secure APC’s ticket, he resigned from the Rauf Aregbesola administration and pitched his tent with ADC.

    Three, if any doubt still existed about the place of substance and morality in contemporary politics Adeleke’s remarkable showing last Saturday has undoubtedly erased such. At some point in our history, proof of academic brilliance would be an added advantage, if not the sole clincher, in the contest for public office. Such concession would undoubtedly stem from a common thinking that public trust was too lofty, too fragile to be left with a fickle mind whose mental reflex could not be trusted at critical moments.

    Adeleke’s rise would then appear to have shattered that myth. For not only has it been established that the PDP candidate was an academic failure having bagged F9 in the only paper (English language) he sat for in WAEC close to four decades ago, his apparent attempt to make up last year in fact ended up allegedly a big scam altogether.

    According to police charge sheet, Adeleke, as a sitting senator, procured NECO results awarding him credits in seven subjects without evidence he ever sat for the exams at Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School, Egbedore LGA, Osun State. Police had last week tendered records to show he was earlier quizzed last year over the matter.

    However, the suggestion of tainted integrity or insinuation of a dodgy academic profile seemed not enough to sway voters against the PDP candidate in the polls, given the hefty votes he posted to place him slightly above the better read, more articulate and far more composed Oyetola of APC.

    Few days to the D-Day, fearing police arrest might deny him chance to participate in the election, Adeleke quickly fortified himself by obtaining a restraining court order.

    While the principle of fair hearing obliges us to grant him benefit of doubt for now, what is however beyond dispute is his complete intellectual vacuity.

    How strange then that a man aspiring to lead the state that once sired the likes of the great Bola Ige, home to the great Obafemi Awolowo University, is a self-advertised disco freak, whose instinctive answer to any invitation to public scrutiny is to simply break into sometimes clownish dance routines, thus exhibiting, not revulsion, but the air of personal fulfillment at what ordinarily should be considered a derogation – being addressed as “the dancing senator”. As if what statecraft is all about is the ability to switch seamlessly from “Skelewu” to “Shaku Shaku” on the dance-floor.

    As a congressman, Adeleke is not known to have, so far, espoused any grand idea at the senate chamber even with the dismal standards of the current denizens; nor lent his voice to any lofty debate outside for that matter.

    Without shame, thrice, he consistently dodged televised debates organized for candidates and was never lacking excuses.

    Maybe substituting the debate with dancing competition would have lured Adeleke out of hiding; he probably would have been more comfortable with questions bordering on which song is the rave on the billboard charts than with posers on the fiscal prescriptions needed to lift Osun from present economic challenges.

    But the truth: what is required in the Governor’s office is more of sobriety only made possible by a presence of mind, certainly not the mere possession of a pair of dancing shoes.

    Fourthly, the September 22 exercise in Osun has proved that, once various stakeholders exercise high sense of vigilance and the umpire evinces will and commitment, the possibility of the ruling party to deploy incumbency mindlessly is minimized. This was very much in evidence last Saturday. That the results were close between ruling APC and main opposition PDP is an unassailable proof of relatively high level of integrity of the Saturday exercise.

    If nothing at all, President Buhari deserves kudos for providing a level-playing field, resisting the temptation to put security agencies at his party’s disposal to impose its will.

    In a show of statesmanship, PMB even overruled the police after they declared the PDP candidate wanted few days to the polls over otherwise grave allegation of NECO certificate racketeering. An unscrupulous power broker could have seized that as a perfect excuse to put Adeleke away in the name of due process.

    This is very much unlike the scenario in both Osun and Ekiti back in 2014 when then ruling PDP, in a brazen flaunting of raw power, not only cracked down on a good number of political opponents but also ruthlessly let loose battalions of hooded state goons to harass and intimidate the opposition before and during the elections.

    Of course, there were reports last Saturday of votes-buying in Osogbo and Ede, but certainly not on the industrial scale witnessed recently in Ekiti involving both the ruling party and members of the opposition. In what suggested at least a new fear, those engaged in the “stomach infrastructure” this time resorted to a novelty – swearing to oaths before sums ranging from N5,000 and N6,000 exchanged hands on the night preceding the election. Unlike in Ekiti recently where such illicit transactions were openly consummated.

    There was also the tale of an extraordinary show of valor that Saturday night by cops who overpowered hoodlums attempting to snatch ballot boxes at the collation centre in Osogbo after shooting into the air and shattering the rear windscreen of a Sports Utility Vehicle.

    Let us hope this resolve to defend the sanctity of the ballot, this noticeable sense of official restraint is sustained by the ruling party in the bigger national contest months away, so that the nation’s democratic culture is deepened.