"The rump of the NJC which suspended the PCA knew they didn’t have the power and even if they did, their choice was clear, the moment they received court processes on the matter. The President knew or ought to know that he was backing an illegality by implementing the recommendation of the NJC. This, for me, was in character, however. As I have gone on record as saying before, much as I pray that Dr Goodluck Jonathan succeeds in office, I know that he cannot resist any opportunity to serve himself! He did it with the violation of the rotational principles of his party and he’s likely to do it as often as the opportunities present themselves."
Of course, you know I am talking about the on-going controversy over the suspension of Justice Ayo Salami, President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), by the President of the Federal Republic
The story is very well known now to require a rehash, but then, journalism practice constrains me from presumptions. So, the story goes like this, in brief. The PCA was found guilty by an administrative panel set up by the NJC of lying on oath against the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu in accusing him of interfering with the work of the Sokoto State Governorship Election Tribunal, empanelled by the PCA. He was asked to apologise within seven days or else. He didn’t and the NJC wielded the big stick, in spite of court processes filed by the PCA to stop it.
In the event, President Jonathan, who had the power to accept or decline the recommendation of the NJC, decided in the affirmative and with uncharacteristic swiftness, approved the suspension and appointed an acting PCA on a Sunday.
Protesters have been on the streets of some major cities since Monday, calling on the President to reverse himself because, he had endorsed an illegality. The illegality, they pointed out, is simply the violation of the rule of law, which is the foundation upon which democratic governance is supposed to be based.
The Rule of Law, according to an online dictionary is “the principle that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced; the principle of government by law.” The Legal Dictionary says it is “an authoritative legal doctrine, principle, or precept applied to the facts of an appropriate case rule of law that is most persuasive in light of precedent, reason and policy,” as well as, “government by law; adherence to due process”
The specific violation being widely canvassed in the on-going crisis is norm that once a matter has been placed before the court for adjudication, parties should do nothing to make the work of the court futile. Lawyers call it tampering with the res, or presenting the court with a fait accompli.
Apart from protests in the streets, organized by civil society groups, there has been very robust condemnation of the actions of both the NJC and the President, from several articulate quarters. They include political parties, the Nigeria Bar Association, National Association of Nigerian Students, Nigeria Labour Congress, prominent legal practitioners and many leading public commentators.
Of course, there have been a few voices coming in defence of both the NJC and the President. Such defences have been based on two reasons – the commentators’ judgment of the case, character and antecedents of the PCA and/or the right of any employer, in this case, the NJC to discipline an employee. Needless to say, these don’t go to the root of the matter.
You see, we are fast becoming a society without values. Values such as honesty, forthrightness, courage to stand for that which we know to be true are in short supply, in our nation. It is much more so in the leadership, unfortunately.
The rump of the NJC which suspended the PCA knew they didn’t have the power and even if they did, their choice was clear, the moment they received court processes on the matter. The President knew or ought to know that he was backing an illegality by implementing the recommendation of the NJC. This, for me, was in character, however. As I have gone on record as saying before, much as I pray that Dr Goodluck Jonathan succeeds in office, I know that he cannot resist any opportunity to serve himself! He did it with the violation of the rotational principles of his party and he’s likely to do it as often as the opportunities present themselves.
Yet a violation of the rule of law in a democracy, is a violation of one of God’s most fundamental laws; one by which He even bound himself! As any one with an even basic understanding of the Bible would agree, God stuck by due process in the process of restoring the earth He created and handed over to Adam, back to His children after it had been foolishly handed over to satan.
How do I mean? Recall that Adam and Eve were forbidden from eating what became known as the forbidden fruit. Genesis 2 renders it this way in verses 16 & 17: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Recall that Adam and Eve did eat the forbidden fruit (see Genesis 3: 1-19) and thereby surrendered their dominion over the earth to satan, who thus became ruler of the earth. He held unto it and even flaunted it in his wilderness encounter with Jesus in Matthew 4, when he took the second Adam: “…up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them” (verse 8); and said to him, “…All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (verse 9).
God, the maker of the heaven and earth, who reports to no one, could have done something unilateral about it! He didn’t. He chose to restore the earth to man by due process. He had made it clear that the wages of sin was death (see Romans 6: 23). He wasn’t going to go back on that! Instead of muscling the devil out of his cunningly stolen mandate, God brought the second Adam, got him to pay the price and wrested the earth from the impostor. Those who bear transient power and who name the name of the Lord, like Dr Jonathan, need to take a cue from the One with the eternal power.
Ronald Reagan, former president of the United States of America
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