It is pathetic that many Nigerian political leaders are not interested in democratic governance – the attempt at nation-building has been perfunctory, superficial, and inhabited by insincere, unimaginative, corrupt and uncommitted ruling class. Worst still is the unbridled and celebrated culture of political brigandage that have come to characterize governance by state governors in Nigeria. In a brazen and dubious attempt to seize the power of the legislature and promote their own selfish agenda in the name of preventing impeachment, they embark on vandalizing and destroying the Houses of Assembly which represent the very core of the nation’s democratic entity. Former Governor Adams Oshiomhole did it in Edo State; he removed the roof of the Assembly and had his loyal lawmakers carry out proceedings at the old EXCO Chamber of the government house. Oshiomhole had in 2018 shamelessly and with impunity admitted to ordering the removal of the roof of Edo State House of Assembly in 2014 to forestall his impeachment. Obaseki also took after his estranged godfather, Oshiomhole; committed the same crime against the people of Edo State in 2020. Now, Fubara went extra miles with extreme impunity by demolishing the Rivers State House of Assembly for the same selfish reason. These barbaric behaviors if not curtailed spell doom for Nigeria’s fragile democracy. The Nigerian people must not only begin to rise against these barbaric governors and politicians, but it is also something that should be investigated for possible prosecution when they leave offices.
Twenty-four years after the return of democracy in Nigeria, it is sad to know that practitioners of political autocracy and stratification are having a field day, especially in Rivers State.
The situation in Rivers State reminds us about Louis XIV of France who once said “L’ Etat c’ est Moi” (“I am the state”, lit. “the state, that is me”). As an absolute ruler, Louis XIV completely and efficiently personified political power.
Nyesome Wike, the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, who turned Rivers State into a chamber of horrors for eight years resembles Louis XIV in many dimensions. Wike not only singlehandedly picked Simi Fubara the current governor of Rivers State, his own specie of godfatherism was unique for its unprecedented ruthlessness and barbarism.
The last general election in Rivers State was a very bloody affair where ex-governor Wike threw caution to the winds by violently imposing his will on the peaceful and law-abiding electorates there. By throwing Simi Fubara on the people of Rivers State, Wike indeed elevated malevolent godfatherism to the zenith of barbarity and insanity.
Wike, now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, thought he would have his way unhindered with Governor Fubara, but the ongoing crisis in the State proves that the celebrated godfather and his son are simply swimming together in a hot pot of soup.
Godfatherism remains a very dangerous component of Nigeria’s specie of democracy. It is disheartening, repulsive and most regrettable that it has become institutionalized in the polity – a negative phenomenon, where most sitting governors are hell-bent on forcing their ‘sons’ on the people by hook or crook.
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has been accused of doing the same in his state with the alleged anointment of a Godson in Asue Ighodalo, as the governorship primaries of his party come closer by the day.
Obaseki himself (Oshiomhole’s successor) and many others including, former governors Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State (Tinibu’s successor); Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State (Aregbesola’s successor); Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State (Fashola’s successor, but said to be Tinubu’s Godson), etc., are all products of godfaderism.
The list is long, but the above listed, except Fashola had the most bitter and publicized battle with their godfathers when it was time to be their own men, as the godfathers would not let them be.
The kind of peace deal brokered recently by President Bola Tinubu and his team over the tussle between Nyesom Wike and Simi Fubara is unequivocally very disturbing because certain constitutional provisions were recklessly trampled upon as have been pointed out by legal scholars.
Certainly, Nigerians are not in a jungle, even as the Rivers State House of Assembly has been destroyed, while kangaroo legislation has become the order of the day.
Femi Falana, constitutional lawyer and human rights activist here reveals the constitutional facts of the matter:
“Whilst the President of the Republic may intervene in the crises rocking the states, his intervention must always be grounded in the provisions of the Constitution…With respect, the presidential reinstatement of the 27 cross-carpeting members of the Rivers State House of Assembly by the Presidency is alien to the Constitution in every material particular.
“The seats of the cross-carpeting members have been declared vacant by the Speaker known to law. To that extent, the Independent National Electoral Commission is mandatorily required to conduct the by-election…In the case of Abegunde v Labour Party (2015) LPELR 24588 (SC) the Supreme court held that a legislator who abandoned the political party that sponsored him and decamped to another political party has automatically lost seat in the Parliament.
“However, the cross-carpeting legislator can only retain his seat if he can prove that the political party that sponsored him is divided into two or more factions. The 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who decamped from the PDP to APC have lost their seats because the PDP that sponsored them is not factionalised or divided as stipulated by the Constitution…Even if all the cases in the Rivers State High Court and the Federal High Court are withdrawn in line with the advice of the President, it is submitted that all actions taken by the Speaker recognised by the Rivers State High Court, remain valid, including his pronouncement on the vacant seats of the 27 cross-carpeting members of the House…In other words, only a court of law is constitutionally competent to set aside the pronouncement of the Speaker which is anchored on section 109 of the Constitution.
“Furthermore, as the Speaker has not been removed by the required number of legislators, a presidential directive cannot remove him.”
It is pathetic that many Nigerian political leaders are not interested in democratic governance – the attempt at nation-building has been perfunctory, superficial, and inhabited by insincere, unimaginative, corrupt and uncommitted ruling class.
Worst still is the unbridled and celebrated culture of political brigandage that have come to characterize governance by state governors in Nigeria.
In a brazen and dubious attempt to seize the power of the legislature and promote their own selfish agenda in the name of preventing impeachment, they embark on vandalizing and destroying the Houses of Assembly which represent the very core of the nation’s democratic entity.
Former Governor Adams Oshiomhole did it in Edo State; he removed the roof of the Assembly and had his loyal lawmakers carry out proceedings at the old EXCO Chamber of the government house.
Oshiomhole had in 2018 shamelessly and with impunity admitted to ordering the removal of the roof of Edo State House of Assembly in 2014 to forestall his impeachment.
Obaseki also took after his estranged godfather, Oshiomhole; committed the same crime against the people of Edo State in 2020. Now, Fubara went extra miles with extreme impunity by demolishing the Rivers State House of Assembly for the same selfish reason.
These barbaric behaviors if not curtailed spell doom for Nigeria’s fragile democracy. The Nigerian people must not only begin to rise against these barbaric governors and politicians, but it is also something that should be investigated for possible prosecution when they leave offices.
The masses are still severely distressed; corruption remains pervasive; leadership remains lame and uninspiring and mass poverty occasioned by stagnated development is very much in evidence.
The rule of law and electoral sanity should be made to prevail, not a constant recourse to utter disrespect for constitutional process and stark gangsterism as a form of government, such as it is being practiced by many political office holders today.
Even the deaf can hear the cry of a heavily traumatized nation (Nigeria) in search of its identity and salvation.
What of the indispensability of the independence of the judiciary to the process of institutional reforms? We challenge President Bola Tinubu to do the needful, not by romancing with practitioners of undemocratic and unconstitutional process in Rivers State, and elsewhere in Nigeria. Wike and Fubara are not bigger than the constitution of the land.
Political accountability and transparency must constitute the twin pillars of decision-making and implementation by state actors cum institutions. We demand a culture of transparency and responsibility between the current presidency, civil society and the citizenry at large.
It must be clearly pointed out that, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ideology of “general will” which formed the basis of modern democracy should be upheld, in the interest of Nigerian electorates, instead of the prevalence of gangsterism, barbarism and absolutism.
Nigerians more than ever before deserve good governance, the sanctity of the rule of law, institutional checks and balances, accountability in policymaking and implementation must be held sacrosanct.
Alltimepost.com Editorial
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