Tag Archives: Nigerian Politicians

Olalekan Waheed: Immunity Or Impunity Clause?

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Some months ago, the Lekki home of Senator-elect Buruji Kashamu was barricaded by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) reportedly to arrest the “wanted drug baron” at the request of the United States Government. As soon as his house was barricaded by NDLEA men, the debate started about the “legality” of his impending arrest. Many of those in the senator’s support cited his “immunity” being a senator, even though he was then yet to be sworn in.

As usual there were no shortages of emergency “public affairs analysts” speaking for or against the “arrest” of the senator. I simply avoided contributing to the matter at that period because all that mattered to me then was for the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (as he was then known) to be sworn in. So, Kashamu’s case was the least of my concerns!

Only recently, a certain Leo Ogor who is the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives came up with a shocker: there should be Immunity clause to cover the National Assembly too. I had to convince myself to be sure this man wasn’t speaking from excessive dosage of alcoholic beverage for him to ejaculate this (for want of more appropriate words to describe it) trash. One wonders with clowns and drug barons like Kashamu in the Senate and other fraudsters who have numerous cases of corruption against them, including the Principal Officers, that Ogor specifically solicited immunity for, how the so-called immunity will not translate to impunity!

Still on Ogor, let me quote him (I am assuming The Vanguard reporter got him right): “If the head of the executive arm, the President and his vice should enjoy immunity, the heads of the other two arms of government, the legislature and the judiciary, should also benefit from the immunity”(The Vanguard 5 October, 2015).

Let us agree with this man for a moment that the Principal Officers at the National Assembly in fact need not be distracted, hence deserves immunity. Let us equally accept without conceding that members of the National Assembly are in fact the “Honourables” they are taken to be so should be excused from prosecution during their tenure in office. What baffles me is that how then will be account for offences committed before some of them fraudulently joined the House? What happens to persons with questionable integrity who find their way into the House hence bringing it to disrepute? Should they also be granted immunity? If this last class of people have immunity, we can easily conclude that they will commit acts of impunity!

Was Ogor talking about “Parliamentary Immunity”? I have heard it said by one of the lawyers who as a guest panellist on a national television station during the Kashamu saga that after being sworn in, he is immune from arrest or prosecution because of “parliamentary immunity”. Oh my God!

I am not a lawyer but I know this man must have either been poorly educated or he is just doing his best to look stupid. If there is anything I know about Parliamentary Immunity, as the name connotes, is that the immunity covers only “offences” or speeches committed during parliamentary debates or committee meetings. This has little to do with criminal prosecutions!

The issue of parliamentary immunity started in England during the Glorious Revolution that led to the adoption of the English Bill of Rights in 1689 sharply limited this practice by granting immunity to members against civil or criminal action stemming from the performance of their legislative duties. The Bill provided that “the Freedom of Speech, and Debates or Proceedings in Parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any Court or Place out of Parliament.”

In the United States, parliamentary immunity preserves the independence of the legislature by reinforcing the Baron de Montesquieu’s principle of separation of powers, thereby, preventing intimidation of legislators by the executive, and protecting parliamentarians from unwarranted appearances before a possibly hostile judiciary. So much so for parliamentary immunity!

Ogor and people like him need to hear this. The most important thing in applying parliamentary immunity is whether the legislator’s actions fall within the “sphere of legitimate legislative activity.” There are actions a legislator may take, even when s/he is engaging in activities related to s/he legislative office, that do not fall within this sphere. If an action is not a legitimate legislative activity, the legislator is not protected by legislative immunity. Nothing in granting parliamentary immunity to National Assembly members prevent them from arrests save from, performing their legislative duties.

When we say, “legislative duties” we mean: actions that a legislator takes during formal legislative proceedings, such as chairing a committee, debating, making motions, and voting; legislative committee investigations; impeachment proceedings; enacting and enforcing legislative rules and others. Also, a legislator is “immune” from arrest on his way to, or from a parliamentary proceeding; committee meeting or any other official legislative function(s) or for whatever he said or has done on the floor of the parliament. This is how far the issue of parliamentary immunity goes. Any other thing which people like Ogor are asking for will only end in impunity!

So, as to whether Kashamu can be arrested while serving his term in the senate, I say “Yes” with all the emphasis I can muster because parliamentary immunity does not extend to activities or “crimes” committed outside legislative spheres. But my question is: Will they ever arrest him, even if he were not in the Senate covered by the so-called “parliamentary immunity” this “charge and bail” lawyer referred to? This is the impunity we talk about this time represented by people like Leo Ogor!

Olalekan Waheed ADIGUN, a political analyst and strategist, writes from Lagos.

adgorwell@gmail.com

+2348136502040, +2347081901080

Twitter: @adgorwell

He blogs for http://olalekanadigun.com/

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Nigerian Politicians and the Myth of Assets Declaration, By Amir Abdulazeez

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It is safe to assume that many Nigerians showed little or no concern towards the declaration of assets by elected and appointed public officials prior to the emergence of Ummaru Musa ‘Yaradua as Nigerian president in 2007. This is probably due to the facts that the declarations are made in secret or because many Nigerians share the opinion that with or without assets declarations, our politicians are not just trustworthy. The trail blazing public assets declaration by the late president sparked into life the interest of many Nigerians on this matter.

Another issue that further accelerated public interest on assets declaration was former President Jonathan’s (in) famous ‘I don’t give a damn’ comment on public assets declaration. It is still unclear whether Jonathan said that deliberately or it was a gaffe, but to many Nigerians, this meant that, not only was Jonathan hiding something from them, he also had some sinister moves and doesn’t care what the public thinks about it. To be a bit fair to Jonathan, he probably meant assets declaration doesn’t effectively and significantly prevents anything and as such, he doesn’t care to publicly do so.

If willingly and publicly declaring one’s assets upon assuming office is to be translated as incorruptibility, then we can easily conclude the Late President Ummaru is arguably the most incorrupt president’s in Nigeria’s history, whereas former President Jonathan is the most corrupt. However, when we critically examine the issue, we can come up with many unanswered or even unanswerable questions that will make us have a massive rethink about our conclusions. For instance, Ummaru’s assets were made public, but did he direct the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to reveal to the public the processes it followed in verifying those assets? How rigorous, thorough and transparent was the verification exercise? If at all, the whole process was to convince the public that they indeed have an honest president in place, what provision was made for independent public verification? Is the CCB empowered by law to continue monitoring the acquisition and disposal of assets and liabilities of those public officers or it can only fold its arms and watch? Upon his death, did Ummaru’s family declared his assets? If yes, did they make it public so that Nigerians can have a basis for comparism with his earlier declared assets upon assumption of office?

By the time, one starts seeking for genuine and convincing answers to the above questions, one may find out that the whole issue about asset declaration in Nigeria is more of a myth rather than a reality. Prior to Ummaru’s voluntary public declaration, the whole issue was kept as a secret from the public and few or no people ask any questions.

One fundamental thing we need to look at is that, no public official is required by law to make his assets declaration and liability-if any-public, he is only required to declare his assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau. May be, we can say the Freedom of Information Act can now be used to inquire and have access to information on politicians’ declared assets. Though CCB is a federal agency, what if state public officers who declare their assets in the state chapters manipulate this and mischievously use it to deny access to information from the bureau?

The declaration of assets is as politicized as the politicians themselves. Upon assuming office, one hears about declaration of assets everywhere, especially in the media, but upon leaving office, what one hears is a

deafening silence. Hardly will you hear of any public official prosecuted for acquiring additional assets more than his total legitimate earnings while in office. The very few ones that come up usually have some obvious semblance with witch hunt.

If this whole process is meant to stop public officers from using their offices for self-enrichment, then asset declaration upon leaving office should be more emphasized than declaration of assets while assuming office. However, the reverse is the case.

The 1999 constitution supposed to be the legal instrument with the highest capacity to stop corruption and impunity by public officers, especially those elected and appointed. However, it ironically appears to be the highest one promoting or encouraging impunity and corruption. It was from this constitution that the issue of assets declaration comes up, but the same constitution went ahead to give unrestricted immunity against prosecution to those who are the main actors and are therefore the ones most likely expected to violate the code of conduct rules against using public office for illegal self-enrichment. What the 1999 constitution did was akin to protecting someone for four years to do all the damage he wants to do before making him available to a weak and largely compromised judicial system. If he escapes justice-which he is very likely to do, he then finds a safe haven to enjoy his loot.

The authors of the 1999 constitution probably did not take into consideration the weaknesses of our checks and balances mechanisms involving our legislature and judiciary before inserting the controversial immunity clause. They also appeared not to have considered the general untrustworthy reputation of Nigerian politicians in allowing for the clause.

Even though Buhari is yet to fulfill his promise, but it is good that he has promised to make his assets and liabilities public and also ‘encourage’ all his appointees to make theirs public. However, the president should move a step further by making sure the CCB does a thorough job of not only verifying the authenticity of all submissions by the declarants but also conduct thorough searches on the sources and legitimacy of these assets. Without a proper verification, declarants have various tricks of cheating their way through. Declarants can declare much more than the own, so that during their time in office, they can steal enough to cover for what they over declared. The CCB should also be empowered to monitor the acquisition of assets by friends, families, associates and cronies of those in office as mostly public funds are being diverted through these people. The president should make sure that the CCB asks outgoing public officials to promptly declare their assets and those with questions to answer must come forward and give satisfying explanations.

Meanwhile, Nigerians themselves are the ones who must make sure that public officers properly account for all their assets. It is before the eyes of all Nigerians that many politicians come to office as poor and humble people and leave as stupendously rich and arrogant elites, but they still go ahead to support them on ethnic, religious and other partisan affiliations.

abdulazeezamir@hotmail.com

VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE SOLELY AUTHOR’S…

#KakandaTemple ~ Elections 2015: Congratulating Goodluck Jonathan, President-Elect

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Alright, God forbid. I also pray against this eventuality, the inauguration of disaster on May 29, 2015, because it appeals to our collective emotions. But this prayer alone can never stop a genius of electoral sentiments and manipulations, especially in a country where the politicians are obviously smarter than the electorates, from reaching a height where the destiny of the nation is designed. No country has ever been built, or project executed, or even a cause pursued, by amens and faith alone. Except in the imagination of Nigerians, the ones whose senses are bound in the fabrics of bigotry, extremism and patriotism along the lines of ethnicity, religion and region, respectively.

In the eyes of Nigerians who are already victorious for they have, or least so they thought, embarrassed the Presidency with the cacophonous criticisms over the President’s insensitivity to the spate of killings in the country, the past few days may be seen as tough for the partying occupants of Aso Rock. But, on a clearly written note, President Goodluck Jonathan really is the victor, the undeclared winner–Mainasara, as his northern campaigners called him pre-2011 presidential elections.

The pulse of the nation has changed ever since Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State embarked on his “conspiracy theory” campaigns, accusing the Presidency of complicity in the growing insurgency in the north-east. With actually only conjectural proofs. This conduct makes the return to Aso Rock in 2015 much more easy for GEJ. The more cheap and unverifiable propagandas and conspiracies are propounded by those who should know better, the more he becomes more electable in a country this polarised. There was almost a consensus in our dismissal of GEJ as an irredeemably failed President, before these torrents of sentiments begin to blur our senses of perception.

The tragedy is, many may now volunteer to pitch tent with GEJ because of these dangerous accusations – of the Christian as the enemies. Without credible proofs, aside from obvious failings of government’s counterterrorism measures. We can only judge the President, without making him likable by a section of the citizens, with undeniable records of his very poor performance – which are enough to get Nigerians united against the present mis-governance. You see, if any people accuse my own too as the destroyer without corroborating evidences, I’ll be similarly hurt and even take an unpopular decision to support that unfairly judged devil!

The good people of Nigeria, however frustrated and suspicious we have become in attempting to understand this insurgency, must end this child’s play at once and ally to defeat the vampiric ruling class, all of them, stripped of the immunity they have earned in their dubious religious, ethnic and regional advocacies. If you don’t know how terrorism works, joining the bandwagon of the proponents of conspiracy theories isn’t the best resort. We must understand what terrorism is, we must understand that it is not a fanfare, but an irrational fatality perpetrated by a people to whom we’re not humans, but symbols, symbols of satanism, of anything unholy, of infections that must be cured. Violently!

The Boko Haram is as real as water. It began before our eyes, so any attempt to dismiss its actual existence, as some deluded citizens have done in their disturbing vulnerability to this seemingly plausible reports of the the federal government’s involvement, is lazy and mischievous. If you have concluded that the government or President as an individual sponsors the violence in the north, let’s also embrace the wisdom to ask: Who are influentially and integrally in the in the federal government. Both Muslims and Christians, northerners and southerners, and all the ethnic groups are represented.

So before you begin to accuse the President of complicity in destroying the north, do know that the Vice President, Inspector-General of Police, Minister of Defence, National Security Adviser, and even the Chairman of the ruling party, which some of us call “Boko Haram” in promoting our conspiracy of the government’s complicity, are Muslims and northerners. And, as such northerners occupy relevant security positions, how would they comply in these alleged ploys to destroy their own people?

I know that it’s understandable to embrace conspiracy theories in the absence of reasons, but the existence of BH itself is unreasonable. We embrace these conspiracy theories, every bit of them, even the absolutely absurd, because we had never experienced the irrational fatality of terrorism. We’re so hopeless, that any culprit presented to us is acceptable, which is even as dangerous as terrorism itself. The best decision Nigerians ought to make now is allying to ask our leaders to stop politicizing our security challenges. As we read Nyako’s letter or speech, let’s have in mind that he’s just also politician being who he is: a manipulative opportunist! He is no different from Olisa Metuh a few weeks ago, except for the damning fact that Nyako

I have written extensively on the terrors inspired by unchecked religious extremism and, having observed the damaging trends of this evil, I acknowledge that it is capable of turning Nigeria into the mess it is now and, thus, if I’m given a chance to talk to Gov. Nyako face to face, in the absence of his gun-totting guards, I’ll definitely tell him he’s just politically paranoid. We can’t talk about Boko Haram as though Mohammed Yusuf never existed!

The tragedy of Nyako’s claims is, we live in a country where his political posturing may be seen as humane activism by some, which is why many of us are already hoodwinked by his claims, without bothering to ask: what do BH insurgents want? Killing us, nonbelievers in their hollow ideologies, is seen as acts of worship by them. Terrorists who have been indoctrinated to consider terminating you acts of worship should be our first suspects in this dilemma. Our politicians, if they’re indeed morally upright, must form an alliance, however forced, to protect us, instead of their predictable maneuvering for victories at the February polls, which seems to be more important to them than even our security!

That you don’t like GEJ, which is very understandable, isn’t a reason to hang your objectivity in analyzing an attempt to undermine him by a paranoid politician. I’m also I’m sympathetic to the cause of APC in its bid to oust the failed incumbent but I won’t endorse any obvious propaganda!

On this, I wish to say, I’ll not forgive you, if my foresight is right that our misplaced paranoia may earn us, but may God intervene, another torturous term under GEJ. If you think GEJ is not electable, especially with this twist of ‘politicized activisms’, that’s because you don’t know Nigeria beyond Facebook and Twitter. May God save us from us!

By Gimba Kakanda
@gimbakakanda (On Twitter)