Politics
On Supreme Court Ouster Of Five Governors
Democracy simply means meeting the wishes of the people. It is a government of the people by the people for the people, while the judiciary, another arm of government is placed in a way to strengthen democratic institutions by way of interpreting the law and to re-positioning and re-direct the process.
Democracy in Africa has not sufficiently helped the progress and development of the continent.
The people of Africa are yet to start choosing their leaders despite the fact that most countries in the continent practise democracy.
The people are yet to have the opportunity to elect their leaders. Leaders in some countries in Africa have used the process to sit tight in power and in government while some change the rules at the middle of the game.
Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe has held on to power for many years is a classical example.
The present President of Senegal whose tenure expires this year after being in office for two tenures of over eight years has succeeded in amending the electotal law of that country to suit his ambition to remain in power.
Those in government in Nigeria, the acclaimed most populated black nation in the world have tried both in the military era and civilian rules to stay put, but such attempts have failed due to complexity of the country and the people.
Last Friday, was another test for democracy in Nigeria where some governors whose intention to stay put in power longer than their allowed tenure were terminated by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court in its ruling terminated the tenures of Governors of Ibrahim Idris (Kogi), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Timipre Sylva (Bayesla), Aliyu Wamako (Sokoto) and Liyel Imoke (Cross River).
The Apex Court declared that there was no reasons whatsoever for them to stay beyond last May 29, having first taken oaths of allegiance on May 29, 2007.
A seven member Panel of the Supreme Court presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Dahiru Musdapher delievered the judgement in an appeal filed by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Rtd Brig. General Baba Marwa and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Apex Court dismissed the preliminary objections raised by the Governors and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the appeal.
The court in giving its ruling explained that no elected officers under the 1999 Constitution can remain in office beyond four years.
In its view that since the acts performed during the period prior to the nullification of the election remain valid and subsisting and the same persons contested and won the re-run election thereby taking another set of oaths and since what was nullified was the election, the oath they took in 2007 remain valid and the starting point in calculating their four years tenure in office as Governors of their respective states.
The Court stretched further that the 1999 constitution does not envisage a tenure exceeding four years by the same person who took the first oath following the election which kick started the tenure.
Legal experts have expressed divergent views about the verdict sacking the five governors from office.
Prof. Itse Sagey (SAN) said the judgement was a healthy one and that it will help set a moral tone for good practice of democracy.
Sagey said apart from the fact that the judgement would set a moral tone for democracy, it would as well discourage politicians and those who would want to sit tight in government and power from rigging elections.
According to him, people should not be made to benefit from their fraud and criminality.
Also in his own contribution on the issue, a Port Harcourt based Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Sabastine Tar Hon said the sack of the five governors by the Supreme Court would be mere academic exercise for those who have contrary views on the judgement.
Hon said although the decision is final, all parties must comply with, either favourable or not.
According to him, “the Supreme Court may have to revisit the decision some day. It was the same Supreme Court that held in 2009, in the case of the Labour Party (LP) versus Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), that when an election is annulled and re-run ordered, both the election and the oath taken are gone”.
“In this case, the original oaths the governors had taken ceased to exist, when they went in for fresh elections and subsequently took fresh oaths of office, there cannot be two oaths in one tenure, he said.
Hon however, said since the Supreme Court is the conscience of the nation which has the jurisprudential powers to give even policy decisions, we must be bound by it.
He said any contrary opinion is merely an academic exercise and urged Nigerians and politicians to always give peace a chance in order to move the country forward.
The issue of elongation came to limelight in 2007, when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Governor of Anambra State, Chief Peter Obi.
Chief Obi who became Governor at the middle of the tenure after obtaining judgment from Appeal tribunal against the sitting Governor then, Dr. Chris Ngige of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The judgment was to allow the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Chief Obi the opportunity to serve and complete his 4 years tenure.
This became the reasons even though an election was conducted in Anambra in 2007, and by INEC and Chief Andy Uba was sworn in, Obi was asked to return to the Government House and complete this tenure as governor.
Many including Hon. Chinyere Igwe believed that the case of Chief Peter Obi versus INEC was different. He said Nigerian politicians always explore every opportunity that comes their way.
Hon. Chinyere Igwe, a former member of House of Representatives, said last Friday judgement was in order since the effected governors had served four years in office.
According to him, I see no legal backing why they should stay in office more than the stipulated time frame.
Igwe, a legal practitioner, commended the Supreme Court for its wisdom, adding that the verdict will surely reposition and strengthen democracy in Nigeria.
Politics
Senegal: Faye Set To Become Youngest Elected African President As Rival Concedes Defeat
Senegalese politician, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, (44), is set to become the youngest elected leader on the African continent.
While Faye’s main rival, Amadou Ba, from the ruling coalition had said a run-off might happen to determine the winner, at least five of the 19 candidates in the race had issued statements to congratulate Faye as of early Monday.
“For our part, and considering the feedback of the results from our team of experts, we are certain that, in the worst case scenario, we will go to a run-off,” Ba, a former Senegalese Prime Minister, had said.
But as Faye’s lead got wider, Ba called to concede victory in Sunday’s presidential elections, BBC quoted a government official to have said.
Faye’s lead had spurred his followers to troop out in celebration on the streets of the capital, Dakar, on Sunday.
Reports revealed that millions took part in a peaceful day of voting to elect Senegal’s fifth president after three years of unprecedented political turbulence that triggered violent anti-government protests and bolstered support for the opposition.
Faye is a Senegalese politician and a former tax inspector, who also served as the General Secretary of dissolved PASTEF.
He contested the highest political position in the West African country in place of disqualified candidate Ousmane Sonko.
Senegalese voters had a choice among 19 contenders to replace Sall, who is stepping down after a second term marred by unrest over the prosecution of opposition leader Sonko.
The incumbent was not on the ballot for the first time in Senegal’s history. His ruling coalition picked Ba, 62, as its candidate.
In a country of over 18 million people, 7.3 million people were registered to vote, and about 71 percent voter turnout was recorded, Senegal’s State TV reported.
Politics
Writing Judgment For Presidential Election Tribunal Allegation, FG Arraigns One
The Federal Government has arraigned one Chike Ibezim for allegedly defaming Babatunde Fashola, former Minister of Works and Housing.
Ibezim is one of three individuals who alleged that Fashola had written the judgments of the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) that dismissed the petitions by the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ibezim was arraigned on Monday before a federal high court in Abuja on a six-count charge.
The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/434/2023, borders on criminal conspiracy, cyberstalking, and defamation, among others.
The matter is before Bolaji Olajuwon and has been adjourned till April 15 for continuation of trial.
Count one of the charges reads: “That you Ibezim Chike Victor, male with Jackson Udeh, Nnamdi Emmanuel Ibezim and Reportera.ng (body corporate) now at large on or about 05/08/2023 at Abuja, did commit an illegal Act to wit: criminal conspiracy; when you jointly agreed to publish a defamatory statement of false allegations in your online social media, the reportera.ng news, against His Excellency Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, CON, without justification, you thereby commit offence punishable under Section 27(1)(b) of the Cyber-crime Prohibition, Prevention Act 2015.”
However, Fashola said the allegation was “baseless and defamatory”.
The former minister described those behind the allegations as “agents of destabilisation”.
Politics
Soludo’s Performance Assessment, APGA Tackles LP Chieftain
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has faulted a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), Valentine Ozigbo, over his comments that the performance of Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, after two years in office, was “not impressive.”
Mr Ozigbo, who was the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2021 Anambra State governorship election, now a chieftain of the LP, stated during an interactive session with journalists last weekend that he was not impressed about Governor Soludo’s performance and has therefore decided to contest the 2025 governorship election in the state.
He said, “We have seen the leadership of Soludo in two years, and some of you may be impressed, but I am not. After the last election in 2021, I called and wished him well and moved on, and we have never spoken again. My decision was to assess him after two years, and having seen it, I am not impressed, and I want to start holding him accountable.
“I am here to share my thoughts with you, what I think, and no matter how you see what he (Soludo) is doing, you will be more proud when I mount the saddle.
“We need to change the narrative and look for a way to survive. We must fight to rescue Anambra. I am a non-transactional politician. I have several things I can do, but my worry is how we can recover the state and put her on the path of development.
“Zoning is a good thing. But it must be combined with competence to make sense. Don’t pick a renegade just because he is from a certain zone, and don’t pick the best, when you know you can pick one that is better.”
Mr Ozigbo said further, “I respect zoning, and I will be making a case for a single term of four years. Anyone who sees what Alex Otti is doing in Abia State will know that four years is enough time to do a lot of work.
“I will honour that principle of zoning, and I will not need anyone’s push or prompting to do otherwise. I will be ready to do an agreement and do an undertaking that I will do just one term. I also wish to tell you that Peter Obi has been consistent that a southerner who emerges will only do one term.
“It is a settled matter that I intend to run for just one term. I intend to keep faith with the agreement.”
But reacting to the development in a telephone interview with The Tide’s source on Monday, APGA spokesman, Tony Olisa-Mbeki, dismissed Mr Ozigbo’s utterances, insisting he has nothing to offer the people of the state.
Mr Olisa-Mbeki said, “He is a political stooge. What could he possibly bring in? Last I checked, he only managed Transcorp Hotel. Is that a qualification to be a governor in Anambra State? Soludo runs an inclusive government in Anambra; that is why he holds town hall meetings with different sectors. What other approach to governance is Ozigbo talking about?
“Anambra State governance is not for learners like Ozigbo. Ozigbo can’t even give a good lecture; he would be better suited working as a PA to any governor. Ozigbo’s aspirations in the previous gubernatorial contest in Anambra found him trailing in third place under the banner of the PDP, despite the staunch endorsement from former APGA governor, Peter Obi.
“That alone should tell him that APGA is like an apostle’s creed to Ndi Anambra. However, what reforms could Ozigbo propose? Anambra State, under Governor Soludo’s leadership, is a testament to political and socio-economic ingenuity.”
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