By Abuchi Obiora
There is fire on the mountain. Recently, the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State in South Eastern part of Nigeria, Dave Umahi, together with the Deputy Governor of the State, Eric Kelechi Dike were sacked from the Ebonyi State Government House by a judgment of an Abuja High Court presided over by the Honourable Justice Inyang Ekwo.
Justice Inyang Ekwo gave a ruling granting the application of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the Honourable Court to recover the Governorship and Deputy Governorship seats from the Respondents who, according to the Applicants/ Appellants, jilted the political party the PDP, through which they climbed their political seats and crossed over to the All Progressive Congress (APC), the major opposition party at the time the election was conducted.
Calmly riding ass called on the Rule of Law, the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi and his deputy found himself torpedoed by a process they thought would have confirmed their audacity to elope from and jilt a political party, the PDP, through which they ascended the office of the Governor and Deputy Governor, respectively. In a brazen act of “Who Be You”, the Governor said many bad things about his former camp and embraced a new marriage with the APC, where he believed he would have possibilities of enhancing his political career with a political party that is in charge of the Central Government in Nigeria. But the bubble busted!
The judgment came, and Governor Umahi, in confusion, rabbled so many things, directing his anger to the Judiciary. Among other things he said after the Judicial Pronouncement, Governor Umali described the judgment as “Jungle Justice”, further calling the Honourable Justice of the High Court a “Hatchet man”. This, however, drew the anger of the Nigerian Bar Association who came out immediately to caution the Governor. The body asked the Governor to tender an unreserved apology for his utterances both to the Honourable Justice, the Honourable Court and the NBA. I understand that the apology has been tendered as requested.
Obviously reflecting the same statement as that of the Governor, a Presidential Aide, Bashir Ahmad also said that the APC is totally against the sacking of the Ebonyi State Governor and his Deputy by the Court presided over by the Honourable Justice.
Inyang Ekwo. In his verified Twitter Handle, Bashir Ahmad expressed his dissatisfaction and the dissatisfaction of the APC on the sack judgment. He described the judgment of the Honourable Court as a “clear case of Judicial travesty and recklessness.”
The embattled Governor’s responses and vituperations with that of the Presidential Aide were not surprising because there was a previous judgment, which, most probably, would have given them the audacity to believe that the Governor would successfully ride the legal ass to safety after his former political party had taken him to Court to challenge his continued stay in office as the Governor of Ebonyi State. That previous judgment was that delivered in favour of Governor Prof. (Sir) Ben Ayade, the Executive Governor of Cross River State in the South-South (Niger Delta) part of Nigeria, when the Governor was taken to Court to relinquish his office after decamping from the PDP through which he won the election and moved on to the APC. There was also another case of the Zamfara State Governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle who also decamped from the PDP to the APC after winning the gubernatorial election on the platform of the PDP. Both the Cross River State Governor and the Zamfara State Governor are still in office.
By the way, what is an ass, and why is the law regarded as an ass?. “Ass” is another name for “Donkey”, an animal with long ears that resemble the horse. An ass is basically used to do hard and mean jobs as it responds only to the whims and caprices of he who knows how to control it. As a result of its responses to the biddings of he who knows how and when to control it, an ass is regarded as a faceless, impersonal, nonchalant, and sometimes, a stupid animal that may cause havoc to the owner/rider, should the owner/rider fail to gauge its sentiments and direct it accordingly with wisdom.
All these qualities and/or characteristics of the “ass” are ascribed to and applied to the concept of managing the rule of law which responds better to the most crafty, the extra intelligent, the most cunning, creative, smart and wise, who understands it and knows how best to approach, handle, and apply it.
A good case can be won or messed up by what I call the application of the three “Ps” notably:
- Preservation of Evidence
- Presentation of the Case.
- Perspective of the Court.
Preservation of incriminating evidence determines the way a case is presented as well as draws out the strength of the Prosecution argument while the premise and strength of argument forms the logic of the Prosecution which determines the perspective of the Court in adjudicating the case when the Prosecution cleverly boxes-in the Honourable Court, through the Prosecutions superior argument and careful avoidance of foreseeable factors that may hinder its case as legal technicalities, to achieve its aim of the Court pronouncing favourable judgment for the Persecution team. By the way and in the same manner, good knowledge of the application of the three “Ps” by the Defence team also avails it the opportunity to puncture both the premise and logic of the prosecution.
Through carefully preserving, creatively and orderly presenting evidence which directly incriminate the Defence, and weakens its case, the Prosecution must be able to orderly and clearly guide and subtly influence the perspective of the court wherefore beneficial pronouncements are secured in favour of the Prosecution.
This is exactly what the legal team that handled the Governor Dave Umahi Prosecution for the PDP may have done. The legal teams of the hitherto botched attempt to unseat Governor Ayade may not have taken cognizance of this approach to win a controversial case with asymmetric and diverse perspectives all of which may be seen as correct applications of Justice.
Knowledge of the rudiments of law alone does not win a case as many wise men and women of the law who understand themselves to be learned friends may ordinarily believe. The three components, in my understanding that wins a case for any Prosecuting legal team are knowledge of the rudiments of law, the creative application of the rudiments of law and the ability, through the application of the three ‘Ps’ to subtly direct and influence the perspective of the Court to secure beneficial pronouncement on the matter under contention.
The courageous and landmark judgment of Justice Inyang Ekwo in the matter between the Ebonyi State Governor and the PDP where the PDP proved beyond doubt to the Honourable Court that the votes by which the Governor ascended office do not belong to the Governor but to the party which conducted the primary election and chose him to represent the party already registered with INEC with all the political party infrastructure (wherefore the Governor was not standing as an Independent Candidate) is a very good development in the history of legal political tussles in Nigeria. It is reminiscent of courage in the dispensation of Justice by the late Honourable Justice Kayode Eso, of the blessed memory.
Chief Samuel Obakayode ‘Kayode’ Eso, CON, CFR, was a prominent Nigerian Jurist. He served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria between 1978 and 1990. He made several landmark judicial pronouncements which in no small way have assisted jurisprudence
and development of law in Nigeria. Many of these landmark judgments are cited as legal precedents in Nigerian Judicial system today.
Justice Kayode Eso (18th September 1925-16th November 2012) born in Ilesa, Osun State and described as “beacon of judicial activism” in a book titled “Justice Kayode Eso, Beacon of Judicial Activism” was a foremost Nigerian legal luminary known for setting the pace through his judicial pronouncements on portions of the law hitherto not envisaged by legal draughtsmen.
Eulogizing the legal luminary during the launch of the said book (which is a compilation of Justice Eso’s judgments, learned articles by distinguished lawyers and legal scholars, the biography of late Justice Eso and tributes to him), another retired Honourable Justice of the Supreme Court, George Oguntade said that Justice Kayode Eso was able to achieve his popularity in Judicial Activism by “intelligibly applying provisions of the law to scenarios not carefully envisaged by the drafters of the law and arriving at what many (lawyers) soon after (him) referred to as “Locus Classicus”.
Such were the contributions of the legendary Justice Kayode Eso in jurisprudence in Nigerian legal system that judicial pronouncements by any judge or justice of any Lower or Higher Court which “intelligibly apply provisions of the law to scenarios not fully envisaged by drafters of the law” as shown in the verdict arrived at by the Honourable Justice Inyang Ekwo in the case between Governor Dave Umahi and the PDP, must be regarded as a good and welcome development in Nigeria because the application of the law must continuously change to capture and match the evolving traits of the people to whom the law must serve a useful purpose.
Governor Dave Umahi, a Professional Engineer, may not have understood that the law is an ass. Neither would he have understood that there could be activism in judicial pronouncements capable of shaking him out of a seat he believed was bequeathed to him by the magnanimity of the electorate that tomb-printed their ballot papers under the PDP umbrella. No wonder he made those weird statements meant to ridicule the Nigerian Judicial System and malign the Honourable Justice Inyang Ekwo.
In my own understanding what Nigerians saw the Honourable Justice do a forth night ago was a clear case of judicial activism drawing the roadmap for future interpretations of post electoral procedure laws and obscured modus operandi for elected officers under the aegis of political parties. The Honourable Justice courageously did this after observing a classic case of what is now presently known in law as “locus classics”. With the present groundswell of public opinion amongst Nigerians in favour of the judgment and the increasing wave of desire for positive change to eliminate political harlotry amongst Nigerian politicians, I nurse no doubt that another set of judicial activists in the mold Justice Kayode Esho and Justice Inyang Ekwo will be waiting at the supreme court to do the needful in revolutionizing the Nigerian post-election justice system through upholding a legal precedent created by Honourable Justice Inyang Ekwo.
Like all activists, including Political, Civil and Human Rights do, Justices Kayode Eso and Inyang Ekwo aim at the perfection of the society. Activists align their activities to the expected natural flow of the conducts of men in order to have a flawless, peaceful society. Their activities promote the synchronicity which must be seen both in the anthropological
origin of law and the sociological hierarchy of law if an ideal human community – The Ideal State Theory propounded by me – may be attained. Their aims and objectives anchored through active conscience justify the indisputable laws of God as the natural sources of the laws of man.
It is important to understand that betrayals such as occur in Nigerian Political Parties through “use and dump” actions of politicians (referred to as cross-carpeting) are no less evil and retrogressive as betrayal known as unfaithfulness which is condemnable by all the major religious faiths including those religious faiths practiced by political cross-carpeters. Neither do these betrayals eulogize the character of the politicians and the socio-political fabric of the country. For their love for the society and their quest for the perfection of it, legal activists like Justice Kayode Eso and Inyang Ekwo, Nigeria’s recent discovery of a perfectionist legal luminary, brace all odds, most times, at the risk of their lives and material fortune, contrary to the expectations of the status quo, to express their dissatisfaction of a skewed present legal order that must give way to a better legal order.
The Nigerian Bar and the Bench need more Judicial Activists than may be presently hidden in their respective legal assignments, to transform the Nigerian society. Being the third arm of the democratic governance that is essential for the smooth running of a democratic society, the Nigerian Judiciary must, through legal activism, extricate itself from the overbearing influence and suffocating grip of the executive arm of the government. Presently, the Judiciary, some of whose officers have at certain times compromised, having been used by
the executive to achieve its aim, is being looked down upon by the Executive who use the carrot stick approach as well as the divide-and-rule method to destroy the Judiciary.
Not until the Nigerian Judiciary stands firm to its obligations and begin to assert its authority over the Executive by jailing some of these erring members of the Executive, it can never be taken seriously by the Executive and Nigerians will continue to hear such flaks and tantrums thrown to the Judiciary by some disgruntled members of the Executive and their crony appointees whenever judicial pronouncements are made not in their favour as shown in the matter between the PDP and Governor Dave Umahi. Apart from having a direct effect of stopping the Executive arm of the government and its political appointees like Bashir Ahmad from denigrating the Judicial arm of government, legal activism in Nigeria will have an indirect influence of checkmating the “use and dump” attitude of Nigerian politicians on political parties through which they attained political visibility and their political offices.
Till the battle for the Ebonyi State Government house moves to the Supreme Court as expected, it is not yet certain what will happen to the 15 PDP ‘decampees’ of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly. Whatever may happen to them will depend on the Prayers of the PDP to the Honourable Court as to the inclusion of their sack on the Relief sought by the Prosecution on the Honourable Court.
Right now in the Imo State House of Assembly, defection fear has gripped the 19 members of the House who decamped the PDP in 2020 in the wake of the sudden Supreme Court Judgment of January 14th 2020 which sacked Governor Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP and replaced him with Senator Hope Uzodinma of the APC.
To cap up this discourse, the epochal judgment by the Honourable Justice Inyang Ekwo in the Federal High Court, Abuja surely points to a raging fire on the mountain of PDP ‘decampees’ to APC. They must be running now. At the end of the inferno, Nigerian shall see how many of them have been engulfed and how much of their inordinate ambitions to reap where they did not sow, shall be consumed when the raging fire must have come down.
ABUCHI OBIORA
abuchiobiora@gmail.com
For: Global Upfront Newspapers
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