Politics
Onnoghen’s Trial And Rule Of Law
Nigerians woke up in the morning of January 7, 2019 to hear that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen was a very corrupt man and that he would be charged to court on the 11th of January, 2019.
The news initially was thought to be just a rumour but when it was confirmed, there was hues and cries across the country.
One funny allegation was that he did not declare one of his assets ..Domiciliary account, which did not hold water. For every public servant, asset declaration is done every four years. And if a person gets a political appointment or elective post, it is done twice, while taking the oath of office and when the person is about to leave or leaves. These are the only stipulated periods assets are declared.
So, if the Chief Justice buy shares in a company or invests his fund in a business venture, years or months after declaring his asset on assumption of office, it is not a crime, asset declaration is not done every month.
The question here is not whether Chief Justice is guilty or not guilty but in tackling issues of corruption, the Federal Government has continuously goofed and made itself look foolish in the eyes of the public and the international community.
This is the second attempt to assault and rubbish the judiciary. 2016, the residence of six justices were raided with crow bars, chisels and hammers, their doors broken, furniture thrashed and the justices were accused of corruption and illegal possession of arm and ammunition, all these deeds were done at midnight, but at the end of the day the government still goofed as noting substantial could be deduced from its action.
The disturbing feeling here is that this ugly trend is coming barely month to the presidential and general elections in the country. And to the discerning mind it has political undertones. this is because to some observers of Nigerian politics, Justice Walter Onneghen, was never at any time the preferred candidate for the position of Chief Justice of Nigeria by who rather believes in appointing people he could trust especially persons of Northern extraction, preferably his fellow Muslim.
This feeling cannot be easily dismissed as virtually all heads of the country’s security outfits are headed by people from one section of the country and the only arm of government that is still outside this reach is the office of the CJN.
In condemning the recent assault on the judiciary, eminent nigerians including governors, legal practitioners; human rights activists and opposition political parties said the action was not only nauseating but a shame on the government for ridiculing itself in the eyes of the public and the international community. They said under the 1999 constitution, section 158 (1) it is only the National Judicial Council, NJC, that has the ample powers to deal exhaustively with matters pertaining to allegations of misconduct and discipline of Judicial officers, adding that without following the laid down procedure those responsible for the infamous act are just wasting their time.
What makes the proposed arraignment of the chief justice before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) look picious To that the petition was submitted to the EFCC on 7th of January and within 48 hours investigation has been concluded and the Chief Justice was invited to appear before the CCT on the 11th of January.
The psychological warfare being waged by the All Progessives Congress-led Federal Government right from its inception in 2019 against its Progressives political opponents and those it disagrees with on constitutional issues has been unrelenting. All what is does is tag someone as being corrupt, leak the information to the social media and other selected media houses and fan the flames of disinformation and propaganda and the rest they say is history. But one thing we should understand is that in a democracy dissent, criticism opposition, legislative and judicial independence are virtually part of the system.
Nigerians should be grateful that we have a vibrant media, judiciary and active set of social justice advocates otherwise the country would have been like Uganda under the dictatorship of late President Idi Amin who brooked no criticism, dissent or opposition to his rule.
After killing over 300,000 people or sending hundreds of thousands into exile his next target was the judiciary. He even had the effrontery to order the killing of the Chief Justice of Ugunda, Justice Benedicto Luwum. The justice was kidnapped right in his office at the court premises in broad day light in 1972 in Kampala and was never seen again.
When some Nigerians expressed their long held view that General Buhari has not shed his military posture, is not a democrat and will not fit in well in a democratic culture the naive ones disagreed and today what do we have? Yesterday, it was former President Goodluck Jonathan who was vilified, almost on a daily basis, then it was the turn of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki Saraki was accused of not declaming his asset of which he was discharged and acquitted.
Later he was accused of sponsoring armed robbers and he is still battling with the police. After Saraka Dino Meleye was next. Today it is the Chief justice, Justice Walter Onneghen Don’t be surprised if tomorrow it wont be the turn of one prominent critic or presidential candidate being accused of running a prostitution ring or peddling hard drugs.
It seems that the present administration has a dirty tricks department where allegations are cooked up against potential threats to its interest. The notion could not be farfetched as its modus operandus has always been the same, no finess, same story corruption and nothing else. For God’s sake there are other teething problems bedeviling the country. The presidency and the APC should focus more on issues like job creation, rapid infrastructure education, power supply than sing the archaic song of corruption ! corruption ! corruption !!!.
There is no country where you don’t have corrupt elements but in Nigeria we seem to have lost focus and instead of being holistic in our approach to issues have become “Tunneled visioned”. We can’t think outside the pox that’s why the democratic culture in most African countries are by far better than that of Nigeria.
The Judiciary in Nigeria is well respected globally, that is why prominent Nigerian jurists have served in the Gambia, Sieme Leone, Uganda and even at the Hague. And if the corruption mantra is so widely spread will these jurists be called to serve in these places?
The Nigerian Bar Association and other well meaning Nigerians must speak out and act now otherwise our hard earned freedom for a democratic culture will eventually fizzle out. Not even under the military rule where judges riducled and harassed publicly. This action has really taken Nigeria to the stone age. Wake up Nigerians! Wake up !!
Tonye Ikiroma-Owiye
Chairman-elect of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Hon. Target Segibo has alleged that the prevalent security challenges in some communities of the local government area could be traceable to parental failure on one hand, and frivolous lifestyle of children and wards involved in crime and criminality in the area on the other hand.
Segibo, who was a pioneer member of the State House of Assembly between 1999-2003, stated this in Yenagoa, the state capital recently while fielding questions from newsmen shortly after receiving his Certificate of Return from the Bayelsa State Independent Electoral Commission (BYSIEC).
He indicated his continued desire to work for the peace and rapid socio-economic development of the local government, noting that having been actively involved in the politics of the area for decades now, he was more grounded in working on modalities towards ensuring enduring peace and unity in troubled communities of the area.
The Chairman-elect who also lauded the state governor, Senator Douye Diri, the state’s leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the electorate for finding him worthy to be elected Chairman of the local government, called on parents/guardiance not to renege on their primary responsibilities of watching over their children and wards, arguing that as the largest local government area in the state, Southern Ijaw should also be noted for peace and development.
“For over 20 years, I’ve been living peacefully with all my neighbours, both at home in Oporoma, headquarters of Southern Ijaw LGA and here, in Yenagoa.
“I’ve grown up children, but I don’t give them more than what they needed as students to go to school and stay okay as a father because I discovered that most of the security challenges we’re facing today in the Southern Ijaw LGA, and other parts of the state, is traceable to parental failure and children’s wanting to lead a frivolous lifestyle”, he said.
“As parents/guardians we should be able to know the kind of friends our children/wards keep. We must not pamper them. We must tell them that they have to do something legal to earn a living. We must question any source of sudden wealth and affluence on the part of our children and wards.
“But I want to assure our people of Southern Ijaw that as their incoming Chairman, when I’m sworn-in, having been actively participating in the politics and other activities of the area, collectively we’ll work to ensure enduring peace, unity and development of the LGA”, he added.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State House of Assembly has screened and confirmed the first batch of Commissioner-nominees for Governor Diri’s second term State Executive Council.
The Tide gathered that the State Chief Executive in a bid to form his cabinet for his second tenure had earlier submitted a list of 14 names to the state legislature for confirmation as commissioners.
However, The Tide reports that only 13 out of the 14 nominees attended the constitutional exercise of the lawmakers.
Though no official reasons have been given, the immediate past Commissioner for Sports, who is also a former member of the state Assembly, Hon. Daniel Igali, was conspicuously absent during the screening exercise.
Inline with the House’s rules and Standing Orders, two other former members of the state Assembly who were also part of the nominees, Dr Gentle Emelah, immediate past Commissioner for Education, and Mrs Ebiwou Koku-Obiyai, were simply asked to take a bow and leave.
Following the exhaustive grilling, however, the immediate past Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Mr Biriyai Dambo, SAN, his Finance counterpart, Mr Maxwell Ebibai, were confirmed.
Also confirmed were the immediate past Works and Infrastructure Commissioner, Moses Teibowei, Mrs Koku Obiyai, Dr Gentle Emelah, Ayibakipreye Brodericks, George Ekpotuatein Flint and Komuko Akari Kharim.
Furthermore, Mr Perepuighe Biewari, Dr Jones Ebieri, Barr. Peter Afagha, Mrs Bidei Elizabeth and Michael Magbisa received the nod to be appointed commissioners by the state lawmakers.
In his advice to the nominees shortly after their screening, Deputy Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Michael Ogbere, enjoined the Commissioner hopefuls to work as a team with those they will meet on ground, admonishing that they remain loyal to the government at all times.
On his part, Leader of the House, Hon. Monday-Bubou Obolo, said the people of the state expect a lot trom them and that the House will do its best to keep them on their toes through its oversight functions while giving them the needed legislative support where necessary.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
A former lawmaker representing Degema/Bonny Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Farah Dagogo, has described the outcome of the 98th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as another demonstration of the resilience of the party to weather any storm that comes its way.
This is contained in a statement released bythe Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the estwhile federal legislator, Ibrahim Lawal, at the weekend.
In the build up to the NEC meeting, suggestions and permutations had been rife of the likelihood of the PDP running into another round of crises as the party tries to navigate a path for the North Central Zone to produce a substantive National Chairman to complete the truncated tenure of former Chairman, Dr. Iyiorchia Ayu.
Speaking on the sidelines of the NEC meeting that saw Umar Damagum retain his position as the party’s Acting National Chairman until the next NEC meeting scheduled for August, Dr Dagogo said those who genuinely have the best interest of the party at heart made timely sacrifices to keep the party firm and afloat.
The former member of the National Assembly said but for the political maturity and sagacity employed by the party’s National Leader and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, alongside other leaders, before and during the NEC meeting, the party would have ‘played into the hands of some individuals, who wanted the party to implode in order to improve their political fortunes’.
He expressed optimism that by the adjourned date of August, Damagum would have seen that “it is in the best interest of the party for him to vacate the position for a more purposeful and result oriented leadership’’.
“ For me, the outcome of the NEC meeting was a win-win situation. Against all odds, the party came out unscathed and will continue to wax stronger.
“Yes, the Acting Chairman retained his position, but it is obvious to him now and others that it would be in the best interest of the party for him to vacate that position for a more purposeful and result oriented leadership by August.
“The so called tension generated in the build up to the NEC Meeting was actually orchestrated by the inordinate desire of some few individuals who wanted to thwart the sterling call by party faithful for a review of its failing leadership and directionless.
“ The Party however did not play into the hands of those individuals, who wanted the party to implode in order to improve their political fortunes. Thanks in good measure to the political maturity and sagacity employed by the Party’s National Leader and Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, alongside other leaders, before and during the NEC Meeting. We are where we are now because of their sacrifices and dedication to the party, “ he added.
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