Pendulum : Our President Has Done It Again By Dele momodu

Fellow Nigerians, the way events happen at the speed of light,
in our dear beloved country Nigeria, is unbelievable. I flew out of
Lagos yesterday on a few hours flight to Sierra Leone but within
that twinkle of an eye, a monumental development had occurred back
home. Thanks to social media, cyberspace was awash and agog with
the story of President Muhammadu Buhari literally firing the Chief
Justice of the Federation, Honourable Justice, Walter Nkanu Samuel
Onnoghen GCON, with automatic alacrity, even though the President
claimed that his action was merely a suspension.

I’m not a lawyer but I’m knowledgeable enough about the
Constitutional supremacy, rule of law, fair hearing and judicial
process. For now, I will not go into the rights and wrongs of the
allegations against the CJN, Honourable Justice Onnoghen because
the matter is subjudice as it is still being dealt with by the
courts. The President’s actions yesterday would seem to belie this
crucial fact. The case against CJN Onnoghen may later turn out to
be unassailable, but until then he should be given the benefit of
the doubt and allowed to enjoy his right to be presumed innocent
until declared guilty by a court of law. It is for him to choose
the path of honour and resign, but it is also entirely his
discretion, knowing the strength of his case and the conviction
about his innocence, to insist on remaining in position until the
outcome of the case against him is known.

Without jumping to any conclusions yet, I took time to read
President Buhari’s speech dealing with the swearing in of the newly
appointed Acting Chief Justice of the Federation, Honourable
Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed. I was alarmed by what I read. The
rhetoric seemed to me to be even worse than it has been in the
past. The dictatorial and strident tone and toga of the President
in his first speech as Military Head of State was all too palpable
for me. I am certain that this speech will go down in the annals of
Nigerian history as one of the epochal speeches that shaped
Nigeria. Whether for good or ill, only time will tell. Let me
therefore literally and figuratively take the pain to quote him
verbatim.

Fellow Nigerians,

A short while ago, I was served with an Order of the Code of
Conduct Tribunal issued on Wednesday 23rd January 2019, directing
the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice
Walter Nkanu Samuel Onnoghen, from office pending final
determination of the cases against him at the Code of Conduct
Tribunal and several other fora relating to his alleged breach of
the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.

2. The nation has been gripped by the tragic realities of no
less a personality than the Chief Justice of Nigeria himself
becoming the accused person in a corruption trial since details of
the petition against him by a Civil Society Organization first
became public about a fortnight ago.

3. Although the allegations in the petition are grievous enough
in themselves, the security agencies have since then traced other
suspicious transactions running into millions of dollars to the
CJN’s personal accounts, all undeclared or improperly declared as
required by law.

4. Perhaps more worrisome is the Chief Justice of Nigeria’s own
written admission to the charges that he indeed failed to follow
the spirit and letter of the law in declaring his assets, citing
’’mistake’’ and ’’forgetfulness’’ which are totally unknown to our
laws as defences in the circumstances of his case.

5. One expected that with his moral authority so wounded, by
these serious charges of corruption, more so by his own written
admission, Mr. Justice Walter Onnoghen would have acted swiftly to
spare our Judicial Arm further disrepute by removing himself from
superintending over it while his trial lasted.

6. Unfortunately, he has not done so. Instead, the nation has
been treated to the sordid spectacle of a judicial game of wits in
which the Chief Justice of Nigeria and his legal team have made
nonsense of the efforts of the Code of Conduct Tribunal to hear the
allegation on merit and conclude the trial as quickly as possible
considering the nature of the times in which we live.

7. Whether deliberately or inadvertently, we have all seen the
full weight of the Chief Justice of Nigeria descend on the tender
head of one of the organs of justice under his control. There is
simply no way the officers of that court, from the Chairman to the
bailiffs, can pretend to be unaffected by the influence of the
leader of the Judiciary.

8. Not only the trial court, but others have been put on the
spot. Practically every other day since his trial commenced, the
nation has witnessed various courts granting orders and
counter-orders in favour of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, all of
them characterised by an unholy alacrity between the time of
filing, hearing and delivery of judgment in same.

9. The real effect has been a stalling of the trial of Justice
Onnoghen, helped along by lawyers who insist that these orders,
whether right or wrong are technically valid, and must be obeyed
till an appellate Court says otherwise. No doubt, that it is the
proper interpretation, but is it the right disposition for our
nation?

10. Nigeria is a constitutional democracy and no one must be, or
be seen to be, above the law. Unfortunately, the drama around the
trial of the Chief Justice of Nigeria has challenged that pillar of
justice in the perception of the ordinary man on the street. For it
is certain that no ordinary Nigerian can get the swift and special
treatment Justice Onnoghen has enjoyed from his subordinates and
privies in our Judicature.

11. In the midst of all these distracting events, the essential
question of whether the accused CJN actually has a case to answer
has been lost in the squabble over the form and nature of his
trial. This should not be so.

12. If Justice cannot be done and clearly seen to be done,
society itself is at risk of the most unimaginable chaos. As a
Government, we cannot stand by wailing and wringing our hands
helplessly but give our full backing and support to those brave
elements within the Judiciary who act forthrightly, irrespective of
who is involved.

13. As you are all aware, the fight against corruption is one of
the tripod of policies promised to Nigerians by this
administration. Needless to say that it is an existential Policy
which must be given adequate attention and commitment by all the
three arms of government. The efforts of the Executive will amount
to nothing without the cooperation of the Legislature and
especially the Judiciary.

14. It is no secret that this government is dissatisfied with
the alarming rate in which the Supreme Court of Nigeria under the
oversight of Justice Walter Onnoghen has serially set free, persons
accused of the most dire acts of corruption, often on mere
technicalities, and after quite a number of them have been
convicted by the trial and appellate courts.

15. Since there is nothing the Executive Arm can do after the
apex court of the land has spoken on any matter, several of these
individuals walk free among us today, enjoying what are clearly the
proceeds of the corruption which for so long has defeated the
efforts of this nation to develop and prosper.

16. It is against this background that I have received the Order
of the Code of Conduct Tribunal directing me to suspend the Chief
Justice pending final determination of the cases against him. It
also explains why I am not only complying immediately, but with
some degree of relief for the battered sensibilities of ordinary
Nigerians whose patience must have become severely over-taxed by
these anomalies.

17. In line with this administration’s avowed respect for the
Rule of Law, I have wholeheartedly obeyed the Order of the Code of
Conduct Tribunal dated 23rd January 2019.

18. Accordingly, I hereby suspend the Honourable Mr. Justice
Walter Nkanu Samuel Onnoghen, GCON as the Chief Justice of Nigeria
pending final determination of the case against him at the Code of
Conduct Tribunal.

19. In further compliance with the same Order of the Code of
Conduct Tribunal, I hereby invite Honourable Justice Ibrahim Tanko
Mohammed JSC, being the next most Senior Justice in the Supreme
Court, to come forward to take the Judicial Oath as Chief Justice
of Nigeria in an Acting Capacity.

20. Fellow Nigerians, we can only stand a chance to win the
fight against Corruption, and position our dear nation for
accelerated development when we stand together to contend against
it.

Thank you and may God bless our country.

It is worth reiterating that this aforementioned speech read to
me like a coup day speech, with all the preaching and
pontificating, especially as it was littered with huge dollops of
self-righteousness and moral indignation. The President sermonised
in a holier than thou manner with the trenchant rectitude that has
now become the hallmark of this administration particularly in the
twilight days of this first term. President Muhammadu Buhari turned
himself into a real four plus four. He became the Investigator,
Prosecutor, Judge and Executioner in one fell swoop.

From that moment, Nigeria immediately transfigured, and
migrated, to full blown dictatorship. The President, with one
stroke of the pen, instantly abolished the principle of separation
of powers as enshrined and entrenched in our Constitution. He more
or less abolished any notion of the independence of the judiciary
and checkmated the legislature with which he shares the joint
responsibility for the suspension or removal of the Chief Justice
of Nigeria. Indeed, the President’s action is an abrogation of the
supremacy of the Constitution, a document which he has given short
shrift and practically turned to toilet paper. To all intents and
purposes, that is how worthless our Constitution is right now!

One thing is sure, the President is no longer in the mood for
the niceties or nuances of Democratic tenets and concepts, but is
firmly in the autocratic power mode that militocracy so generously
offers. I weep for Nigeria and I cry for the President and his gang
of powermongers who have refused to read the history of Nigeria,
and, if they did, have refused to learn anything from it.

I heard and read of many Buharideens shouting, jumping and
jubilating that the President has done the right thing by summarily
sacking the CJN. I don’t blame them, but I wish to let them know
that the ozone layer they have entered is too dangerous for anyone
to contemplate.

Anytime it seemed Nigeria has been conquered, the conqueror is
usually defeated by the resilience of our long-suffering people.
The tragedy is, I see many lawyers in this government who are all
keeping mute in the face of tyranny, just for them to remain in
power, by fire by force. As I wrote to our dear President not too
long ago, man shall not live by power alone.

God has been very kind to President Muhammadu Buhari. He became
Head of State about 35 odd years ago and was sacked in 1985. Anyone
would have thought it was over and finished for him. In less than a
couple of years, many Nigerians who hailed his emergence as Head of
State were jubilating on the streets when his military government
was toppled in a palace coup by those close to him. But God, in His
infinite mercy and wisdom, brought him from the shadows of death
and restored him back to even greater power and glory in a
democratic setting, after making several amazing shots at the
Presidency.

Holy Moses! No one would have thought Baba would blow his second
chance and shatter it into smithreens in this manner. Since 2015,
it’s been obvious that President Buhari is only different from
Major General Buhari in terms of change of nomenclature and
uniform. He must feel a sense of nostalgia for those days when he
didn’t have to share powers with the legislature and Judiciary, and
now craves a return to that time he was alpha and omega.

But truth is whatever victory he hopes to record, by playing for
broke yesterday, can only be pyrrhic. Nothing more. When tomorrow
comes, like it would come, sooner rather than later, he would look
back with regrets and ask, why did I do that which may have been
needed, but totally unnecessary.

I have no doubt in my mind that whatever happens, it shall be
well with Nigeria and this too shall pass away.

Dear compatriots, stay strong and resolute. The best is yet to
come. God bless our great country.