Wike/Fubara fight a threat to democracy — Lawyers
The crisis that has engulfed Rivers State following the face-off between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, the former governor and now FCT minister, Chief Nyesom Wike is unfortunate. The crisis which was brewing for some months finally blew open on Sunday October 29 when some sections of the state House of Assembly were burnt following moves by 24 lawmakers to impeach Governor Fubara.
The governor had also alleged an assassination attempt on him by some compromised police officers, who allegedly shot live bullets as he visited to assess the extent of damage caused by the Sunday night bombing of the Assembly complex by some hoodlums. Governor Fubara asked the 24 state lawmakers who commenced a process to impeach him and were said to be loyal to former Governor Nyesom Wike, to show justification for their actions.
He said, “If Siminalayi Fubara is impeached, I won’t be the first, neither would I be the last. But what is important is that any attempt that is not justified will be resisted. Let them come out and tell Rivers people the offence that I have committed to warrant impeachment”. 26 of the 31 lawmakers later suspended the Speaker, Martins Amaehwule and three others and thereafter elected and inaugurated the leader of the House, Hon. Edison Ehie, as their new speaker. While there were calls for the intervention of President Bola Tinubu and other eminent Nigerians, a new twist was added to the political drama as 27 of the lawmakers defected from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to All Progressive Congress, APC. The remaining four lawmakers then sat and declared the seats of the 25 members who defected vacant.
And apparently, to prevent the defected lawmakers from sitting at plenary, Governor Fubara ordered immediate demolition of the Assembly complex giving as reason the need to renovate the burnt sections on the ground that the integrity of the building had been compromised. The governor on Wednesday, presented the state 2024 budget before the four-member faction of the Assembly which sat at the Government House which was approved and subsequently signed into law. On their part, the defected 25 lawmakers led by Amaewhule held a parallel sitting at the auditorium of the Assembly quarters and passed some bills. Amid the crisis, four commissioners, including the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice had resigned from office.
Lawyers in the country have however expressed concern over the worsening political crisis in Rivers State with many of them warning that if not properly handled, it could have far reaching consequences on the nation’s democracy. While urging President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the political impasse and douse the tension in the already charged state in the interest of the country’s fragile economy, they also called for an end to godfatherism in the political system so that the people would be able to freely elect their governors and representatives. The cost of the impasse in Rivers would run into billions of Naira. The poor people of the state would likely bear the brunt, not the politicians.
A real danger to our democracy- Miakpo Emiaso, Retired President, Area Customary Court, Delta State
“What is happening in Rivers State is not new, it happened in Edo State. The demolition of the State House of Assembly is a demonstration of the impunity with which the Nigerian politician runs government affairs. “They over-personalize their offices and once they get to office, they are not bound by any law or regulations. That is a level of rascality that our politics has now degenerated into. It is a real danger to the rule of law and a real danger to the Nigerian citizenry.” On the defection of 27 members of the State House of Assembly to APC, the law says that they should lose their seats because what has happened in Rivers State is not a reflection of the state of the political party. You can only cross the carpet if there is a crisis in your political party.
“The timing of their crossing in Rivers State does not reflect any visible crisis within the PDP that will necessitate that kind of crossing and as such, the 27 members of the House of Assembly that crossed have sacrificed their seats because they have not crossed at a time that they can cross. “Again, this is Nigeria; people have crossed in this kind of circumstances and nothing happened.They did not lose their seats. That is why some of us keep on insisting that there is no alternative to running a government guided by the rule of law. Whatever it is that we want to do with the government, there is a legal room for when it can be done and how it can be done. But we have a country where we ignore the rule of law and do things the way we feel and that is a real danger to our democracy.”
Professor of law, Epiphany Azinge, SAN, described the developments as a threat to our Constitutional Democracy, while also faulting the demolition of the House of Assembly complex by Governor Fubara. Prof. Azinge, said: “The unfolding drama in River state portends danger for our still fledgling democracy but at the same time redefines who we are as a people—patently fraudulent. “In as much as we must condemn all indices and designs of God fatherism as anti-people and anti-majoritarian rule, we must not fail to denigrate acceptance of offers from Godfathers knowing that you will renege from the agreement. “That smacks of bad faith and also must be condemned. Anyone who accesses reigns of power through the back door is certainly not an honourable man and must never be trusted with power. “So also is the predecessor who believes that a man in power can ever be expected to subordinate himself to the whims and caprices of another who is out of power is certainly not a student of Power-Calculus. These are the moral concerns. “But there are constitutional and legal dimensions. The power tussle in the State Assembly deserves serious inquiry. Why should the Assembly structure be demolished in a democratic regime. “Is that not treasonable and an attempt to undermine the principle of representative government which is an inherent concept of democratic government. Who determines majority and minority members? Can an impeachment proceeding commence outside the parliament?. Can the budget be passed by minority members and can parliament meet in Government house? “There are a host of legal issues waiting to be addressed. The judiciary must be circumspect in descending into the arena. A host of the issues can be viewed from the Constitutional prism of political questions and the judiciary should be wary of intervening. But the clear cut constitutional issues must be addressed speedily and decisively in order to avoid constitutional logjam that can upturn the whole constitutional structure in Rivers state and possibly necessitating a state of Emergency and consequential appointment of a Military Administrator until normalcy is restored and possibly fresh elections conducted for both parliament and governorship positions.”
According to Chief Ken Ahia, SAN: “The situation in Rivers state is quite precarious. It requires careful and immediate handling. It portends danger to the rule of law. The constitution is quite clear on the consequences of cross carpeting. “Judicial authorities are there. Immediately, a legislator decamps to another party the consequence is the loss of his seat except where there is a division in the party. At the moment, there is no known division in PDP. “If one is created now, it would be after the fact. My take of the whole matter is quite simple, the House of Assembly of Rivers state as presently constituted is constitutional. “INEC should conduct fresh elections to fill the vacancies created by the reason of the defections. Any attempt to bully the governor or the House of Assembly may lead to anarchy.”
Likewise, Mr Dayo Akinlaja, SAN, said: The happenings simply point to the fact that we have not made much progress in our democratic process. This is basically because the happenings are a renaissance of the power play we have constantly and variously had to grapple with from one end of the country to the other since 1999. “It is clear enough that the touchstone of our own brand of democracy is empowerment of individuals rather than institutions. By reason of this position, there is perennial struggle for dominance and control among political gladiators from state to state, and at the national level from time to time. “What we are witnessing at the moment is nothing unprecedented and, without any speck of doubt, nothing that will not continue in our political landscape. The impression I am left with is that the citizenry are not accorded the right pride of place in the political game across the length and breadth of our nation.
“Were it otherwise, all the disturbing and disquieting occurrences everywhere would not have been. In other words, if only the motivation for public office were to be service to the people, the desperation and unthinkable actions would not have come to play. “It is hoped that the ugly situation in Rivers will sooner than later be put paid to for the good of the state in particular and the nation at large.”
Mr Kunle Adegoke, SAN said: “The development in Rivers State in which a number of legislators constituting the majority of the lawmakers in the state decamped from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC) really portends a negative implication for our democracy.
“Whereas, it is the law that where a legislator decamps or abandons the platform on which he was elected and now opts to join another political party, that legislator has forfeited his claim to the seat that he was occupying by section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution provided that he can keep the seat if he is able to justify why he has to abandon that particular political party. “So, it is a condemnable thing for a member of a House of Assembly to abandon his political party while still representing the people of his constituency on the platform of that party. The people of his constituency actually voted for him on the basis of the political party he belongs. He can therefore not rubbish the rights of that political party for whatever reason and go and join another political party. “It is common in Nigeria that politicians prostitute around anyhow. But the constitution does not allow that. It is not something that should rather take time. It is an instant consequence that, that member is regarded as having forfeited his claim to the seat of the constituency that he is representing. “So, it shouldn’t be allowed. The fact that it is APC that is reaping from this illegality should not befuddle our conscience as not to able to condemn what is wrong within the polity. Today, APC might be the beneficiary of this illegality, tomorrow APC might be the victim of same illegality. “I believe that all men of conscience should rather condemn this. Even the top echelon of APC should tell those lawmakers to go back to their political party. If anyone of them is not ready to abide by the dictates of the constitution, he should be prepared to forfeit his seat while INEC replace him through another election,” he added.
Also contributing, Dr Kayode Ajulo, SAN described the happenings and occurrences in River States as one of the numerous cases existing in Nigeria’s politicking and politricking attitudes.
“In other words, it’s just another attempt of the politicians portraying and toiling with the aisles of our democracy, as overtime these ones have been in the habits of playing selfish interest games with the governance unremorsefully and unapologetically. “Having practiced for over two decades and being a pro-democracy advocate, without any gainsay, all of the above narratives only portray doom, obliteration and destruction to our staggering democracy, and the reason I tagged it staggering is because in all genuine sense, our democracy this day thrives on irregularities and is largely at the risk of survival as same struggles for its life and well being in the midst of several daily obstacles. My position to the gory saga in River State is one that portends a depletion in the standards of Democracy in Nigeria, and I must state categorically that these happenings would be an eye opener to our promiscuous and philandering politicians.
Also, a senior lawyer, Mr Fred Nzeakor, said the present happenings in Rivers State has shown that democracy is in coma in the state. According to him, “I think it is very embarrassing and shocking that democracy is in coma in Rivers state with what we are seeing. What is happening in Rivers State cannot be described as democracy any longer. It can rightly be declared as civilian dictatorship.