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Jonathan’s Coup Against The Rule Of Law By Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

May 27, 2012

 

For reasons only they know, the federal government seems eager to provoke crisis where there would be none if only they obeyed the rule of law. Last year, theNigeria Judicial Council (NJC) suspended Court of Appeal President Justice Salami for a nonexistent offense. He was suspended for standing firm against the perversion of Justice and the abuse of power. At that time, the presidency quickly endorsed the NJC action. Earlier this month, the NJC rediscovered its conscience by reinstating the honorable jurist to his position. This time, the presidency balked as if it had lost its faculty to speak. Finally, the attorney general said that the presidency would not ‘reinstate’ Salami because of pending cases against Salami. Not coincidentally, these cases were filed by losing PDP governorship candidates.

 

Now, Nigerians know this is part of a larger script to end the career of a courageous judge and amputate justice and subvert the rule of law. Here the Presidency and PDP are culprits. The facts favour Justice Salami, but those who hold power in trust for millions of Nigeria will not let justice prevail.

 

The NJC and the consensus neutral opinion of the country’s most eminent jurists and legal scholars agree that the law points to only one proper course: Salami’sreinstatement. These people hold no partisan political brief. Their care is to promote legality. On the other side, stand only the PDP and their legal mercenaries. I ask: who is behaving more dangerously partisan in this matter, the ruling party that ignores the great weight of considered legal opinion or the opposition that is willing to live by and under the law? I rest my case and say no more on this specific point.

 

We are witnessing something historic. The federal executive has launched a compound coup against the rule of law and judicial integrity. The first is the subtle assumption of a power the presidency does notproperly wield. The attorney general stated that the presidency would not reinstate Salami until the pending cases were fully litigated. This is empty bluster, the discharge of cannon minus the cannonball. Under the law of the land, the presidency has nosubstantive function in the matter. Salami’s reinstatement is not dependent on presidency. His reinstatement begins and ends with the NJC. FormerChief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Uwais, in apublicized television interview was unambiguous when he said, “Actually from the legal point of view, the suspension of a judge, the power to do so is given to the National Judicial council not the President…So really to me, I don’t see any reason once the NJC decides he should be recalled, and then he should be recalled by the NJC not the President, technically”. His point was clear and straight forward-President Jonathan’s business is that of being notified of the NJC’s decision and not of approving what has already been formally decided. Yet, we are witnessing a flagrant violation of the rule of law in which the right of an individual is being crudely taken away in broad daylight.

 

The authority and eminent position of Justice Mohammed Uwais on this matter carries more weight than the shallow political calculations of the president and his henchmen. The NJC suspended Salami. Now it has reinstated him. The only role the presidency can properly play in this matter is as a deliverer of messages. That is what our constitution provides. Yet, this insecure yet vain presidency cannot see itself as anything but the controller of all things.  Thus, theAttorney General huffs that Justice Salami cannot resume his duties when the NJC has already legally reinstated him. At this point, it is not Salami but the Attorney General who should be placed in the dock for taking an action that he knows is blatantly improper. The top lawyer of the federation has proven himself to be a legal gypsy whose legal opinion travels in whatever direction the strongest political wind blows. The federal government has transformed itself fromsubject to the constitution into a bully intent on intimidating a fine jurist from serving the nation thus depriving Nigerians of all stripes and political hues of their right to the neutral and objective application ofthe rule of law.

 

Even under the years of brutal military dictatorship, laws were being obeyed and the judiciary was not hamstrung. Atleast, those of us that were in detention got some reprieve by the order of the courts.

This brings us to the second coup. This goes directly to the independence of the courts. Justice Salami is in thispredicament not because he did anything legally improper. He is in the soup because his objective, high quality legal work was seen as a grievous political sin by those in power. Justice Salami is in trouble becausehe served his conscience and refused to be part of the gang up to perverse justice. He had the temerity to decide cases according to applicable law and fact and this was unacceptable to the ruling party. He let verdicts fall where legality led them. This means some verdicts went against the ruling party.

 

This was enough to make them conspire against him. Now, the PDP has developed a script to intimidate other judges

 

With the Attorney General’s unacceptable and unfortunate statement, the curtain has been pulled back. We had hoped this would be resolved with dignity in favour of the rule of law, that we could restassured the President would safeguard the legal rights of all Nigerians while still being an energetic and tough political opponent to some of us. Sadly, this was not to be. For the Attorney General to spurt as he did, meanshe did so at the insistence of his boss. Here Nigerians are confronted with a frightening trend in which ourdemocracy and country are in danger. An elected President who himself has been a beneficiary of the protection of the legal protection under the doctrine of necessity that paved his way to the Presidency, now leads a power cabal that is disrobing Nigerians of their rights and denying them justice.

This is a direct assault against the judiciary. Seeing the treatment so roughly handled to a senior Justice likeSalami, no other judge will dare act independently and according to the law.  They will seek direction from the executive and then concoct flimsy legal arguments to defend what they have been ordered to do.

 

They will come to use the color of law to undermine justice. Herein lies the danger to us all. This government has shown itself to be greedy.  The more it eats, the hungrier it gets.  The more power it has, the more it wants. Today, it seeks to devour Salami because of his electoral rulings. Tomorrow it will be a contract you signed, the land your father purchased, the businessyour uncle built or the newspaper that published an unfavourable news report.  If the law courts are no longer able to honestly adjudicate the law but functionto serve as the sharp knife of the imperial court in Abuja, then we no longer operate under a constitutional democracy.  We have become a despotic kingdom where the arbitrary fiat and command of the monarch carry the force of law and the constitution is but a flimsy sheet of paper.  We have lived this scenario before and it did us no good. We should not walk this trail of tears again.

 

Again, this matter goes far beyond political partisanship.  It will define the very meaning of governance in Nigeria, either for good or bad. It is time to select the side that you are on. Either you are for right or for power. You cannot be both because the improper actions of government have precluded such a combination.

 

Therefore, it is time that all jurists, all lawyers and civil society, particularly the media stand for justice and demand the reinstatement of Justice Salami. The violation of the rule of law and constitutional checks and balances has to stop now before it gathers a momentum that brings irreparable harm.  By standingwith Justice Salami today, we also take a stand for ourselves and the promise of a better future for the nation that we love.

 

For reasons only they know, the federal government seems eager to provoke crisis where there would be none if only they obeyed the rule of law. Last year, theNigeria Judicial Council (NJC) suspended Court of Appeal President Justice Salami for a nonexistent offense. He was suspended for standing firm against the perversion of Justice and the abuse of power. At that time, the presidency quickly endorsed the NJC action. Earlier this month, the NJC rediscovered its conscience by reinstating the honorable jurist to his position. This time, the presidency balked as if it had lost its faculty to speak. Finally, the attorney general said that the presidency would not ‘reinstate’ Salami because of pending cases against Salami. Not coincidentally, these cases were filed by losing PDP governorship candidates.   Now, Nigerians know this is part of a larger script to end the career of a courageous judge and amputate justice and subvert the rule of law. Here the Presidency and PDP are culprits. The facts favour Justice Salami, but those who hold power in trust for millions of Nigeria will not let justice prevail.   The NJC and the consensus neutral opinion of the country’s most eminent jurists and legal scholars agree that the law points to only one proper course: Salami’sreinstatement. These people hold no partisan political brief. Their care is to promote legality. On the other side, stand only the PDP and their legal mercenaries. I ask: who is behaving more dangerously partisan in this matter, the ruling party that ignores the great weight of considered legal opinion or the opposition that is willing to live by and under the law? I rest my case and say no more on this specific point.   We are witnessing something historic. The federal executive has launched a compound coup against the rule of law and judicial integrity. The first is the subtle assumption of a power the presidency does notproperly wield. The attorney general stated that the presidency would not reinstate Salami until the pending cases were fully litigated. This is empty bluster, the discharge of cannon minus the cannonball. Under the law of the land, the presidency has nosubstantive function in the matter. Salami’s reinstatement is not dependent on presidency. His reinstatement begins and ends with the NJC. FormerChief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Uwais, in apublicized television interview was unambiguous when he said, “Actually from the legal point of view, the suspension of a judge, the power to do so is given to the National Judicial council not the President…So really to me, I don’t see any reason once the NJC decides he should be recalled, and then he should be recalled by the NJC not the President, technically”. His point was clear and straight forward-President Jonathan’s business is that of being notified of the NJC’s decision and not of approving what has already been formally decided. Yet, we are witnessing a flagrant violation of the rule of law in which the right of an individual is being crudely taken away in broad daylight.   The authority and eminent position of Justice Mohammed Uwais on this matter carries more weight than the shallow political calculations of the president and his henchmen. The NJC suspended Salami. Now it has reinstated him. The only role the presidency can properly play in this matter is as a deliverer of messages. That is what our constitution provides. Yet, this insecure yet vain presidency cannot see itself as anything but the controller of all things.  Thus, theAttorney General huffs that Justice Salami cannot resume his duties when the NJC has already legally reinstated him. At this point, it is not Salami but the Attorney General who should be placed in the dock for taking an action that he knows is blatantly improper. The top lawyer of the federation has proven himself to be a legal gypsy whose legal opinion travels in whatever direction the strongest political wind blows. The federal government has transformed itself fromsubject to the constitution into a bully intent on intimidating a fine jurist from serving the nation thus depriving Nigerians of all stripes and political hues of their right to the neutral and objective application ofthe rule of law.   Even under the years of brutal military dictatorship, laws were being obeyed and the judiciary was not hamstrung. Atleast, those of us that were in detention got some reprieve by the order of the courts. This brings us to the second coup. This goes directly to the independence of the courts. Justice Salami is in thispredicament not because he did anything legally improper. He is in the soup because his objective, high quality legal work was seen as a grievous political sin by those in power. Justice Salami is in trouble becausehe served his conscience and refused to be part of the gang up to perverse justice. He had the temerity to decide cases according to applicable law and fact and this was unacceptable to the ruling party. He let verdicts fall where legality led them. This means some verdicts went against the ruling party.   This was enough to make them conspire against him. Now, the PDP has developed a script to intimidate other judges   With the Attorney General’s unacceptable and unfortunate statement, the curtain has been pulled back. We had hoped this would be resolved with dignity in favour of the rule of law, that we could restassured the President would safeguard the legal rights of all Nigerians while still being an energetic and tough political opponent to some of us. Sadly, this was not to be. For the Attorney General to spurt as he did, meanshe did so at the insistence of his boss. Here Nigerians are confronted with a frightening trend in which ourdemocracy and country are in danger. An elected President who himself has been a beneficiary of the protection of the legal protection under the doctrine of necessity that paved his way to the Presidency, now leads a power cabal that is disrobing Nigerians of their rights and denying them justice. This is a direct assault against the judiciary. Seeing the treatment so roughly handled to a senior Justice likeSalami, no other judge will dare act independently and according to the law.  They will seek direction from the executive and then concoct flimsy legal arguments to defend what they have been ordered to do.   They will come to use the color of law to undermine justice. Herein lies the danger to us all. This government has shown itself to be greedy.  The more it eats, the hungrier it gets.  The more power it has, the more it wants. Today, it seeks to devour Salami because of his electoral rulings. Tomorrow it will be a contract you signed, the land your father purchased, the businessyour uncle built or the newspaper that published an unfavourable news report.  If the law courts are no longer able to honestly adjudicate the law but functionto serve as the sharp knife of the imperial court in Abuja, then we no longer operate under a constitutional democracy.  We have become a despotic kingdom where the arbitrary fiat and command of the monarch carry the force of law and the constitution is but a flimsy sheet of paper.  We have lived this scenario before and it did us no good. We should not walk this trail of tears again.   Again, this matter goes far beyond political partisanship.  It will define the very meaning of governance in Nigeria, either for good or bad. It is time to select the side that you are on. Either you are for right or for power. You cannot be both because the improper actions of government have precluded such a combination.   Therefore, it is time that all jurists, all lawyers and civil society, particularly the media stand for justice and demand the reinstatement of Justice Salami. The violation of the rule of law and constitutional checks and balances has to stop now before it gathers a momentum that brings irreparable harm.  By standingwith Justice Salami today, we also take a stand for ourselves and the promise of a better future for the nation that we love.

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