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Stay Off Election Petitions, Falana Tells Supreme Court
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has expressed concern over what he calls “tribunalization of the nation’s democracy”, saying it endangers the very essence of democracy in itself.
The renowned legal luminary, who said nowhere else around the world is the mandate of the people being determined at the courts than at the polls, spoke while featuring during a live programme at the Oyo State-owned Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS), Ibadan, yesterday.
As a panacea, the Senior Advocate, however, suggested that retired judges should be engaged in electoral petition thereby allowing regular courts to take care of other vital matters.
Falana said, “I am strongly opposed to the idea of empowering the Supreme Court to get involved in governorship election cases. In most parts of the world, it is not the business of the Supreme Court to get involved in local elections and that was the situation in Nigeria until 2011.
“All election petition appeals arising from governorship election, legislative election ended at the appeal court. Among lawyers and judges, that is the thinking; that we have to go back to the status quo ante. We should take advantage of the pool of our retired judges to handle election matters”
On the various preventive measures to tackle the ravaging Coronavirus which has crippled the global economy in the past few months, Falana said the restriction order and total lockdown in some parts of the country are in order but that they should be reviewed periodically to lessen the burden on the citizens.
He frowned at the recent invitation of Chinese medical personnel to tackle Coronavirus cases in Nigeria, saying government should not at this moment frustrate the efforts of local medical workers with inadequate provision of facilities and necessary incentives, adding that our medical doctors are doing well and can compete with others around the world but they lack equipment to work with.
He advocated for the allocation of oil blocs to state governments in the stead of individuals so that the government at the state and local levels can have access to more funds to impact on their people.
“We need to abandon the neo-liberal economic system being practised by Nigeria. There cannot be basis for giving oil blocs to individuals that will turn them to instant billionaires while state governments cannot pay salaries.
“Why don’t you give the oil blocs to state and federal governments so that they will be able to use the money accruing from the sale of the oil blocs to take care of health, education and other key critical sectors?
“This is not the time to pay debts to the detriment of development of our nation. You can’t be cutting capital allocation, while you’re paying debt. The economic stimulus package has to address the crisis in the health, education and other social services”, he noted.
Falana also called for a review of the National Health Act by emphasizing the improvement of hospitals and the national health insurance at local, state and federal levels, noting that if every Nigerian is captured on the National Health Insurance net, nobody would die of any preventable disease.
He urged the country’s leadership to learn from countries like Cuba, a country of 11million population and 400,000 medical doctors with a good number of them being deployed to 15 countries combating COVID-19.
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
