FEATURE ARTICLE

E O EkeMonday, November 10, 2014
[email protected]


ANNOUNCE THIS ARTICLE
TO YOUR FRIENDS

AMINU TAMBUWAL AND DANCE OF SHAME

advertisement

r Aminu Tambuwal and his likes are a disgrace to democracy and the rule of law. They are undermining democratic credibility and accountability by their refusal to play by the existing rule and invest their time to undermine the rule of law to achieve selfish objectives. This is a man who love to be called honourable behaving dishonourably. Being honourable involves doing what one knows to be right and playing by the rule and not to attempt to misuse one's position to undermine the rule of law.

This selfishly engineered crisis is as a result of a culture of abuse of due and democratic process which has been a feature of Nigerian politics since PDP came to power.

Why is PDP making a farce and pretending that it did not see it coming? I thought that what is good for the geese is good for the 'gender'. When politicians decamp from other parties to the PDP, our police and president turn a blind eye and forget the part of the constitution that says they should vacate their seat. But when politicians decamp from PDP to other parties, PDP, Nigerian police and the presidency suddenly realise that there is a constitutional provision that requires them to vacate their seat.

This what a people get when corruption, sectarian and selfish interests undermines the rule of law. This is another typical Nigerian farce which cannot yield to any logical argument because none of the parties are coming to equity with clean hands.

The judge must simply decide what he thinks is in best interest of the country and try to salvage whatever is salvageable, hoping that the country will soon return to the rule of law.

What man of honour in a fragile democracy like Nigeria, will put his selfish political interest over and above the provisions if the constitution?

Tambuwal's decision to decamp is his constitutional right even though it is a pure political opportunism not based on any political conviction. it is simply to enable him become governor of Sokoto state so that he can continue to avoid prosecution for corruption and continue to pillage the Nigerian treasury.

The only thing the likes of Tambuwal know is corruption, abuse of power and misuse of the law. His aim is to have his way, no matter the provisions of the constitution and he already has his ally in the court, which grants injunction that subvert the constitution and and make its provisions of no effect.

But come to think of of it, why wouldn't the court do the bidding of the politicians? They appoint the judges and also recommend those who become Senior Advocate of Nigeria not based on any exceptional contribution to law and order, but because they have served the interest of the politicians. If anybody doubts this, he should ask the SANs to publish who recommended them for the honour.

The Nigerian court is in the pocket of politicians and that is the reason why the law is always interpreted to suit what the politicians want and why Ibori and his like could not be prosecuted in Nigeria

What I fail to understand is the Nigerian courts, which give injunctions that enable politician subvert the rule of law and benefit from corruption and crime. The court gave Peter Odili permanent injunction from prosecution for corruption. The last time I checked his wife seats in the Supreme Court.

There is no democratic country in the world, where a court would give a judgement to enable a law breaker escape justice except in Nigeria.

It would seem that everything in Nigeria is now corrupted including the administration of justice,which is why they express themselves in ways that are not obtainable in other countries.

When a politician decamps, it is both the law and honourable that he vacates his seat. Tambuwal's refusal to vacate his seat is effrontery in the face of the law and leaves the government no choice, but to use its power in a game where the constitution is no longer the arbiter.

This is very sad, because Mr Tambawal claims to be a lawyer. He and his colleagues have been vandalising the Nigerian constitution in the name of amendment to enable people like him get away with this kind of behaviour and it is unfortunate.

A speaker who knows that he should vacate his seat, if he decamps to another party refuses to resign and gets a court order to perpetuate his term. What does anybody expect from the power that controls the police. Illegality begets illegality. There is no better example an 'absurdity'.

When those who make the law show such flagrant disregard, abuse and contempt for the law, what hope has the rule of law to take root in such country?

Mr Tambuwal is a disgrace to democracy and the rule of law. Typical of lawyers, they have started arguing the law without moral conscience and a sense of what is right.

What is the confusion. Mr Tambuwal knows the law and is attempting to subvert it for his selfish interest and the government is doing the only thing it can because there no rule if law.

The question is, does the court have to declare that someone has stolen, if the person was caught stealing before the police would arrest him?

It is obvious that Tambuwal has no respect for the provisions of the Nigerian constitution and he does not seem minded to respect them and at the same time, he is using the court to validate an illegality.

This is the mess he deliberately created to ensure he remains in office until he becomes governor of Sokoto state. There is no constitutional crisis just corrupt and unscrupulous politicians disagreeing on how best to share their loot , Nigeria. All these make revolution of the people inevitable.

advertisement
IMAGES IN THE NEWS