The decision of the presidential candidate of
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to wage a legal challenge against
the proclamation of President Muhammadu Buhari the winner of the February 23,
2019 presidential election has not received the encouragement of a few informed
minds in the country.
 |
| *Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar |
To my mind, the two positions need not be mutually exclusive. While Atiku assembles his legal team for a formidable challenge against what many have dismissed as a grand mockery of the electoral process, he can also, at the same time, join forces with others to build and fortify our democratic structures. The two very important assignments can comfortably run hand-in-hand.
The people whose views do not qualify for
attention here are those Nigerians (some purporting to be “non-partisan” intellectuals)
who argue that Atiku’s decision to go to court is a needless distraction and
pure waste of time and resources, since going by the announcement of Buhari as
winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and presentation
of Certificate of Return to him, he should be regarded as having been validly reelected.
What was required now is for everyone to forget whatever reservations (or even
grievances) they have about the elections, rally around the president and
ensure he did the right things this time around to “move the country forward.”
I beg to disagree. Electoral malpractices seem
to have been accepted as a way of life in Nigeria, a permanent feature in our
elections, so much so, that some people might even express genuine disappointment
that an election has lost its familiar character, in fact, its shine, if it was
not marred by these malpractices. And so, our politicians now unleash them with the most
sickening brazenness – with utmost impunity. Some even add a touch of fanfare
to it. And this is largely because of the growing belief that no consequences
would ever follow. Anybody, therefore, who would help to lawfully destroy this
toxic mindset will always enjoy my generous support. That now makes it clear that this position has
more to do with the sanitization of our democratic process than with Atiku as a
person (or politician) and the PDP as party. It just happens that they are the
ones launching the major legal challenge at this point in time. It could have
as well applied to anybody or any party.
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'NIGERIA: Why Looting May Not Stop' - New Book Every Nigerian Should Read...
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The judiciary has a pivotal role to play here.
As the arm of government that has received the worst form of battering,
especially, under the present regime, moments like these when people come to
the courts to challenge alleged electoral infractions present excellent
opportunities for this very sensitive arm of government to clearly demonstrate that
it is neither inferior nor an appendage to the other arms, especially, the executive.
It should summon the courage to clearly demonstrate that its loyalty is first
to the country, her laws and institutions and not any individual or regime no
matter how authoritarian. As politicians approach the courts to present cases
of alleged fraudulent practices during elections, including the one filed by Atiku
Abubakar, the learned judges must realise that the integrity of the judiciary and
even its continued existence and relevance as a revered arm of government is
dependent on the firm, fair and just judgments delivered at the courts. On no
account should the judges allow politicians to intimidate them into using their
own hands to undermine the dignified status of the judicial arm of government.
I want to see every politician (without an exception)
who gained public office through any kind of electoral malfeasance to not only
be booted out by the court but also recommended for trial for grievous
infractions against the country’s democratic process and laws. This is the only
way to deter desperate characters who have no respect for any organised systems
and before whom nothing is sacred. Aggrieved politicians should have the
patience to prosecute their legal challenges against electoral robberies to
their logical conclusions and ensure that justice is seen to have been done.
If the judiciary would continue to enjoy the respect
and sympathy of Nigerian people, it is totally in its hands to ensure that. The
recent move to desecrate and ride roughshod on it through the reckless and
illegal removal of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) attracted widespread
local and international condemnation, and that was an unambiguous demonstration
that the civilised world jealously retains a strong abhorrence of any attempt
to intimidate the judiciary and tamper with its independence. It is not about
the persons that occupy those offices, but about the offices themselves which
will remain long after their occupiers have left. We must protect these
institutions with all our will and strength.
If therefore Atiku’s case has merit, the
judiciary should have no inhibitions upturning the election that returned
President Buhari to office. But if Atiku fails to prove his case, the judiciary
should equally summon the courage to say so unambiguously in its ruling, and it
would be clear that justice has been fairly served. We as a country should be
able to make it clear that we can no longer tolerate the desecration of our
institutions by public officers. To continue to allow that is to give our
blessing to anarchy which will always return to haunt us and stall our progress
as a people and country. Nobody, therefore, no matter the office he occupies,
should treat the ruling of a court of competent jurisdiction with scorn. Such a
person should be seen as treating the whole Nigeria and her people with disdain
and that must be strongly rejected.
Only recently, in September, 2017, Kenya
became the first country in Africa to have her Supreme Court annul a presidential
election. Nobody saw it as an attempt by the judiciary to “humiliate” the
president, because in Kenya, the country and her institutions are higher than
any individual or political party. Shamefully, this is very far from being the case in Nigeria, where public
officers allow their oversized egos to goad them into the delusive belief that
by virtue of their positions they are higher than the country, her people and
institutions. While the political parties in Kenya are desirous of acquiring
and retaining power, they are also mindful of preserving their institutions
which will still be there with the people after the expiration of each regime.
Reacting to the annulment, the BBC observed
that “regardless of the winners and losers
following the ruling, this is a proud moment for Kenya. The litigation and
debate on the merits of the election was done at the Supreme Court and not on
the streets.” I hope that Nigerians who allow religious or ethnic intoxicants
or both, to push them into lethal extremities whenever attempts are made to subject
their “idols” to the dictates of organised systems should learn from this.
Fortunately for Atiku, he has behind him Mr. Peter
Obi, a man who became governor of Anambra State by waging about three years
battle against the result of an election which he was firmly convinced was massively
manipulated to deny him victory. After a long tortuous legal expedition, the Supreme
Court gave him justice and he was sworn into office. He then commenced the
second leg of his legal battle, this time, to seek a judicial definition of when
exactly a public officer’s tenure should commence; should it be taken that part
of his tenure was executed on his behalf by the usurper who had rigged himself
into office, as was widely believed in Nigeria at that time? In a landmark
ruling, the Supreme Court agreed with Obi and his lawyers that the
tenure of an elected official should start counting the very day he was sworn
into office until the four years statutorily allocated to him to spend in
office elapses. Many politicians have
been beneficiaries of this illustrious legal battle prosecuted and won through
one man’s diligence and perseverance.
Now, there are Nigerians who consider it
unthinkable that certain elections into certain “high offices” like that of the
president can be upturned by the court. Some small minds even suggest that such
a development is capable of “destablising” the country! This is one myth that
must be shattered if we must make progress and build solid structures for our
democracy and nationhood.
*Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye, a Nigerian writer and journalist, is the author of the new, highly demanded book, NIGERIA: Why Looting May Not Stop(scruples2006@yahoo.com)
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