By Phrank Shaibu
The choice of Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN as the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is already confronting President Buhari’s party’s ideology and promises of free and fair elections. Presently, there exist many petitions both local and International alleging that the Attorney General has crossed the line in many instances by corrupting the electoral process in the few elections that have been conducted by the Buhari’s administration. The common denominator of the complaints clearly suggests that the Attorney General is brazenly politicizing his office and abusing his power through impropriety in his dealings with election issues.
The choice of Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN as the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is already confronting President Buhari’s party’s ideology and promises of free and fair elections. Presently, there exist many petitions both local and International alleging that the Attorney General has crossed the line in many instances by corrupting the electoral process in the few elections that have been conducted by the Buhari’s administration. The common denominator of the complaints clearly suggests that the Attorney General is brazenly politicizing his office and abusing his power through impropriety in his dealings with election issues.
Most petitioners have accused the
Attorney General of hugely contributing to the surge of election crises in the
Buhari’s government and even suggested that Nigeria’s seeming credible
electoral process instituted by the past government which President Buhari
remains a major beneficiary is being threatened. Consequent calls have
indicated that restoring purity in Nigeria’s electoral process should not be an
issue of debate for President Buhari even if it means an immediate sack of Mr.
Abubakar Malami as the Attorney General, a necessary political price any well
focused Government should pay to demonstrate its sincerity.
On this, any objective Nigerian
would agree that President Buhari should demonstrate willingness to put aside
politics for equity and preservation of his integrity as election abnormalities
if allowed to go unchecked will not only obliterate Nigeria’s growing democracy
but reintroduce endemic electoral violence.
It is really sad that the alleged
actions of the Attorney General have suddenly become the kernel of political
difficulty for the Buhari’s administration and which highly tends to question
Buhari’s assurance of impartiality. This is an exceptionally sensitive issue,
probably as sensitive as threatening our national security or diminishing the
true value of Nigeria’s democracy.
Indeed, the countless allegations against the Attorney General, regarding the
use of his office for political gain, corrupting the judiciary and undue
interference in the affairs of some independent agencies need to be
investigated. This is an issue that the Buhari led government should not sweep
under the carpet because Nigeria deserves a brilliant, dedicated and impartial
Attorney General that will always let the law take its course and will not only
support the constitution of Nigeria but properly conduct the duties of the
office of the Chief law officer independent of any partisan political pressure.
That Nigeria’s Attorney General has
certainly veered out of his assigned lanes by forging an unusual path in
carrying out an orchestrated agenda against free and fair elections is well
documented on the Kogi State governorship elections. Infact, any claim that the
Attorney General is the main source of the Kogi distressed election will be
difficult to dispute. Of particular note is that on the Kogi election, for unprofessional
reasons, the Attorney General acted as if he were above the law and did not
need to observe the rule of law.
Unfortunately, that a series of
documents have been leaked corroborating that the headship of Nigeria’s
election regulating agency, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC
instead of following the advice of its legal consultants opted for the opinion
cum directive of the Attorney General is grossly disappointing. It is really
difficult to believe that the leadership of INEC forgot that the Attorney
General as a political appointee of the ruling party had no right to interfere
with such an issue which the Federal Government is not a party. Indeed, it
would be ironic for anyone to think that the meddling of the Attorney General
was not ill motivated to enhance his party’s chances as a contestant in the
Kogi governorship race. The naked truth is that, the Attorney General’s
interference with the work of INEC was obviously not only to diminish
constitutional independence of the electoral institution but to covertly
decimate perceived opponents, a clear action to halt purity from Nigeria’s
democracy.
Whilst many Nigerians awaited the
INEC’s mishandling of the Kogi situation and its attendant impasse to be
resolved by the Election Tribunal, it is quite unfortunate that the same
Attorney General did not hesitate to multiply the original anxiety and
confusion he had created in the election. That he went on an open propaganda to
grant a radio station an interview to give advice to the Election Tribunal is a
clear intrusion on the duty of the Court as his comments had the potency of
prejudicing the interests of some parties to the case. Again, this shows that
on the Kogi election, the Attorney General had no equilibrium in his conduct as
he ought to have remained neutral and rationale.
Many analysts have stated that if
the Attorney General did not have a bias motive, he would have known that it
was premature for the Tribunal to admit any advice or interference even on the
basis of “Amicus curiae’ that only comes appropriate to assist courts on
matters overlooked by the parties and court on facts and the law. As such, what
the Attorney General did is not only presumptuous but inconsistent with giving
legal submissions for the benefit of court.
Whilst I will resist the urge to be
dragged into the arguments advanced by some persons that the Judgment of the
Election Tribunal was patently biased and suffers from obvious errors as it did
not properly consider the arguments put forth by some parties which amounts to
an error apparent on the face of the record. However, it is important to note
that the ruling of the election tribunal still has a long judicial road to
travel as the issue of Nigeria’s Constitution short fall in addressing the
present Kogi entanglement of the death of a contestant in the middle of an
election and what happens thereafter is still undefined.
The simple lessons from the Kogi
election and the aftermath of the many exposed interferences cum accusations of
bias of the Attorney General which he has not refuted is that the Buhari led
APC despite its ‘Change’ mantra seems comfortable with the activities of an
Attorney General that is far from being fair. One question, Could the quality
of the Attorney General’s directives be a measure of his capacity or deliberate
intent to please his masters? This remains a difficult subject because the
Attorney General in his recent remarks and actions have certainly steered the
Nigerian constitution into complications. Indeed, as much as the Nigerian people
want a solution to their electoral problems, the first step should be to send
the Nigeria’s Attorney General to a school of relearning how to separate
politics from his constitutional responsibilities.
Indeed, it is the opinion of many
objective observers that the higher courts in their inherent powers ought to
recognise the that the ruling of the lower court on the Kogi election tussle,
neither served the interest of any well-established principles of law nor
public interest especially to avoid making the demise of a contestant in an
inconclusive election a firm attraction for Nigerian politicians to engage in
extreme violence or assassination for seeking inherited votes.
This is why it will be in the best
interest of Nigeria’s democracy for the entire Kogi election case to be
revisited in order to ensure that justice is properly served and the
compromising mindset of the present Attorney General as exhibited in the Kogi
election is kept in check for the preservation of both the integrity of the Judicial
system and INEC especially in an administration which claims to be impartial
and corrupt free.
(Shaibu, a Public Communications Consultant, wrote from Abuja. He can be reached via: shaibuphrank@gmail.com)
(Shaibu, a Public Communications Consultant, wrote from Abuja. He can be reached via: shaibuphrank@gmail.com)
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