ONNOGHENGATE AND THE REST OF US

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
         - Thomas Paine

Since the outbreak of the news on the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen scandal about not proper declaration of his assets especially with respect to his operation of foreign accounts, so many commentators, opinion moulders, and public analysts have made known their views. Personally, this represents my second piece on the subject matter.

There is no doubt that the CJN erred with respect to lack of proper declaration of his assets as required by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) Law. In this regards, the CJN feigned of ignorance and mistakes is untenable under the law, and this the number one Chief Law Officer in the land should not only be aware of but also understood it. This is because ignorance is not excuse under the law.

Ordinarily, since the admittance of mistakes and ignorance by the CJN, if it were in a sane clime, the CJN would have honourably resigned, but ours no doubt isn't a sane clime. It is a Banana republic where anything goes, and anybody does anything he likes when he likes especially if it belongs to the top echelons of the society. Let's assume, people in the category of the CJN do it, one ordinarily, would have expected that the CJN would take a different posture and do the needful. It is shameful but unfortunate it is the reality in our country.

The Government represented by the President also erred by referring the case to the Code of Conduct Tribunal rather than the National Judicial Council which is the statutory body meant to officially look into any wrong doing by any Judicial officer like the CJN, though, some have argued that this has to do with any infractions committed in the course of discharging his duty and responsibility as a judge. I would however want to argue that the issue at hand ordinarily, though, a criminal offence be reported to the NJC. In this regards, the failure of the Government to report to the NJC but to the CCT in itself also constitutes an infraction in itself.

Equally wrong is the decision of the CCT to continue with the trial despite several court orders especially the Court of Appeal latest restraining  order demanding the maintenance of status quo by each of the parties concerned. This is because, law is not just about the substance alone, but essentially is procedural.

As if this is not enough, the decision of the CCT to issue a mandatory order instructing the President to suspend the CJN contrary to the Provision of the 1999 Constitution which gave the Senate the exclusive right to suspend and remove the Senate is a major infraction against the Constitution.

For the Presidency to comply with and rely on such order to remove the CJN and appoint another Acting CJN in it stead is a breach of the Constitution, an impeachable offence for that matter. To worsen the matter is the ethnic dimension to the issue, since the new Acting CJN happened to come from the North as against the ousted CJN which comes from the South South.

There is no doubt that decision of the President is politically motivated, though morally justified but illegally executed. It is politically motivated because of the timing, and the role the CJN will be playing in the coming days as the appointees of the Judges that will presides over the various election Tribunals, and especially that of the Supreme Court. It is politically motivated because the President has not found to have acted swiftly in previous matters of the Courts like the case of the Dasukigate, the El-Zazaki case, the continuous detention of leading opposition figures like Deji Adeyanju, Doyin Okupe, among others. Thus the failure of the President to be consistent overtime and a period of three years left much to be desired as far as this case is concerned.

The action of the President is however morally justified. It's morally justified in that humongous amount found in the CJN is one that is questionable and that demands prosecution. It is morally justified in that how many Nigerians have access to the retinue of legal assistance the CJN has and he has been able to exploit, so someone has to stand up to ensure that justice is done. It is morally justified in that the anti-corruption war is one that must be fought decisively considering its inimical effects on the populace. Only God knows how many justice has been miscarriaged for the CJN to have such amount of money in his account and which his salary cannot justify. It is morally justified because only God knows how many lives have been lost due to poor infrastructures that such money could have been used for.

The list of lists of the justification of the President's decision on the basis of morality is listless but the truth is not everything that his moral that is legal, and vice versa. In other words, morality does not always equates legality. This is a truth known to every legally inclined individuals.

Essentially, the President action and decision to suspend the Justice Walter Onnoghen was illegally executed, and one which demands reprimand if only will operate in a sane clime. This is because the President is setting a dangerous precedent of which if allowed unchecked could be detrimental to our hard earned democracy. Let's assume this President acted in good faith, what happened to the future Presidents who may not have altruistic feelings and intentions for doing so. The implication is that we have made our rules, in this case our laws, to become rules of men as against rule of law. The consequences are better imagined than experienced. Like some people are citing the case of Justice Ayo Salami during the Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan's regime, someone somewhere tomorrow will also cite this particular action of President Buhari as a reference point.

Another thing is that the role to hell is paved with good intentions, and tyranny like hell is not easily conquered and if there will be war, let it be in my time, so that the unborn generations may have and live in peace. A leader doesn't descend into dictatorship overnight, it is a gradual process, and sooner by sooner, it becomes a full blown dictatorship with all its apparent disadvantages and consequences. President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe started well but you and I know what he became before his ignobale removal from the throne. Same with Paul Biya of Cameroun, Joseph Kabila of Togo, Charles Taylor of Liberia, just to mention a few.

Our laws must not be bent to accommodate a leader or any man because of perceived good intentions, the consequences might leave much to be desired. Like many Nigerians, I want justice to be done, but for justice to be done, it must not be hastily done, or illegally executed. Otherwise, it becomes an affront on our laws. Just as justice delay is justice denied, so also justice hastily done is justice done abysmally.

Thus, on this issue I cannot stand with the President but rather with the Nigeria Bar Association and other well-meaning Nigerians who have spoken against the decision of the President. It is a decision hastily embarked upon and acted out of bad faith, which may spell Doom for our dear nascent democracy, and God forbids, no one wishes otherwise. The law should be allowed to take it course. The CJN should be allowed to have its days in court(s). Justice might seem long coming, but it will certainly come as in other climes where cases do last for several decades. For instance, the FBI case on the role of Russia on 2016 US Election is still ongoing for over two years, and it may last for another administration, the truth however, is that it cannot be swept under carpet.

Thus if I were the President, I would have allowed the law to have its course but ensure that justice is done, but as stated earlier, the decison of the President is not based on the law but politically motivated. And anything which is based on political consideration is either done to service personal interest or group interests. To me, this is a bad omen as far as leadership questions are concerned.  Nigerians indeed deserve better than we are currently witnessing, and I hope one day we will have better leaders that will not only live in words but indeed.

God bless my fatherland!
God bless Nigeria!!
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!