Politics
Rivers: The Gathering Storm
Since the rumour that
Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State is nursing an ambition to be the next vice president to a northern presidential candidate in 2015 started circulating, many disturbing developments have occurred.
Whether this rumoured ambition is true or not, it is totally irrelevant. The truth is that every Nigerian over the age of 40 is entitled to aspire to be president or vice president of Nigeria. This constitutional entitlement is not in any way qualified by the party or zonal relationship between an incumbent president and the aspirant. That is why the series of unfortunate events that have occurred in Rivers State since the so-called aspiration was published are most disturbing, ominous and dangerous.
The publication in- various newspapers in the last few weeks have disclosed that the following disturbing events have occurred:
1. The grounding of the official private jet of the Rivers State Government: intended apparently to cripple the Rivers State governor’s movements around the country.
2. Prevention, by police of the state House of Assembly from functioning.
3. Escorting some suspended members of the House of Assembly accompanied by hoodlums masquerading as protesters by the police with the apparent intention of initiating impeachment action.
4. Prevention of the Caretaker Committee of a local government council from functioning.
5. The withdrawal of the security details of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly.
6. The threatened withdrawal of the security detail of the governor himself.
What all these events establish is that neither democracy nor federalism is functioning properly in Nigeria. Any Nigerian, more so, a high official like a governor, is entitled to have presidential ambition. It is his constitutional and democratic right.
To lay a siege on him and his state because of the rumour of vice presidential interest is a major assault on our so-called democracy. The sort of events that have been occurring recently in Rivers State have a threatening and intimidating effect and are unworthy of any society governed by the rule of law. When any Nigerian is threatened and his environment surrounded by the sort of dark clouds and storms being witnessed in Rivers State, it is democracy and democratic rights in the whole country that are endangered.
The above developments have also demonstrated the fact that Nigeria is not a federation, but merely a unitary state pretending to be one.
In a federation, both the Federal Government and the federating units are autonomous and independent of each other. This has been stated again and again by both national and international authorities, including our own Supreme Court. As Wheare put it, “the fundamental and distinguishing characteristic of a federal system is that neither the central nor the regional governments are sub-ordinate to each other, but rather, the two are co-ordinate and independent”. In short, in a federal system, there is no hierarchy of authorities, with the central government sitting on top of the others. All governments have a horizontal relationship with each other.” (Wheare, Federal Government, 4th Ed … OUP, 1963).
According to Professor B. O Nwabueze: “Federalism, therefore, may be described as an arrangement whereby powers within a multi-national country are shared between a federal or central authority and a number of regionalised governments in such a way that each unit including the central authority exists as a government separately and independently from the others, operating directly on persons and property within its territorial area, with a will of its own and its own apparatus for the ‘conduct of affairs and with an authority in some matters exclusive of all others. In a federation, each government enjoys autonomy, a separate existence and independence of the control of any other government. Each government exists, not as an appendage of another government (e.g. of-the federal or central government) but as an autonomous entity in the sense of being able to exercise its own will on the conduct of its affairs free from direction by any government.
Thus, the Central government on the one hand and the State governments on the other hand are autonomous in their respective spheres.” (Nwabueze, Federalism in Nigeria under the Presidential Constitution, Sweet & Maxwell, 1983, p.2.)
In Attorney-General of Lagos State v Attorney-General of the Federation [2003] 6 SC Pt. 1, p.24 at pages 35 and 57, Uwaifo JSC explained the nature of a federation lucidly as follows: “But I do not need to repeat that Nigeria operates a federal system of government. Section.,2(2) of the 1999 Constitution reenacts the doctrine of federalism.
This ensures the autonomy of each government. None of the governments is subordinate to the other. This is particularly of relevance between the State Governments and the Federal.
Government, each being, as said by Nwabueze in his book, The Presidential’ Constitution of Nigeria…pages 39-42, an autonomous entity in the sense of being able to exercise its own will in the conduct of its affairs within the Constitution, free from direction by another government. I think it is significant that shortly before and since the independence of Nigeria in 1960, all the Constitutions that have been enacted have taken the pattern of federalism. Under this system, each tier of government has its legislative competence or functions conferred on it as the case maybe”.
In conclusion, Uwaifo JSC stated thus: “it is a non-controversial political philosophy that the Federal Government does not exercise supervisory authority over the state governments.” (at p.60).
From what has been happening in recent weeks in Rivers State, it is clear that if every state has its own Police Service, there will be no need for the Federal Police to provide security for state authorities and agencies.
Therefore, to the extent that states do not have their own police forces, our federalism remains incomplete and underdeveloped. The National Assembly, therefore, has a lot of re-thinking to do about the present attempt to amend the Constitution.
What it has done so far, is, in fact, a perverse movement towards more centralism and unitarism and that is contrary to the interest of an enduring Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It is now obvious that there is need to look at our constitutional provisions in order to restructure them for the achievement of true federalism, in which states and their governors will be able to assert their autonomy and independence from the Federal Government. The current events in Rivers State are ominous and do not portend well for the future of the Federal Republic.
Sagay is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Culled from Sunday Vanguard, May 19, 2013.
Prof Itse Sagay
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed, through a second reading, a bill seeking to retain immunity for the Office of the President and remove immunity from the Vice President, the Governors and the Deputy Governors.
The bill was one of the 42 considered and passed through the second reading stage during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu, in Abuja.
Sponsored by Hon. Solomon Bob (Rivers PDP), the bill is seeking the amendment of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to guard against abuse of office and to ensure transparency in governance.
The long title of the proposed legislation read: “A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to qualify the immunity conferred on the President, remove the immunity conferred on the Vice President, the Governors and their deputies, in order to curb corruption, eradicate impunity and enhance accountability in public office and for related matters.”
Key amendments include changes to Section 308 of the Constitution, which currently grants immunity to the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.
The proposed bill will amend subsection 3 to ensure that immunity only applies to the President and the vice president when acting as President under Section 145 of the Constitution.
Additionally, a new subsection 4 will be introduced to make the immunity clause inapplicable if the office holder is acting in an unofficial capacity, engaging in actions beyond the powers of the office, or involved in criminal conduct.
“The bill seeks to foster transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption by making public officials more accountable for their actions, both in and out of office.”
“Section 308 of the principal Act is amended by:(a) substituting a new subsection (3) as follows: “(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President only when acting as President, in line with Section 145 of this Constitution.
Creating sub section (4) thereto as follows:”(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be inapplicable where the person to whom this section applies is acting in an unofficial capacity or where the conduct of the person is beyond the powers of his office or the conduct is criminal in nature.
“This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) Act 2024.
The bill is currently awaiting further debate and consideration by the National Assembly.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to notify Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, about the petition by constituents seeking her recall from the national assembly.
INEC said it has also received the contact details of the petitioners.
“Pursuant to section 69 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I write to notify you of the receipt of a petition from representatives of registered voters in your constituency seeking your recall from the senate.
“The notification is in line with the provisions of clause 2 (a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
“This letter is also copied to the presiding officer of the senate and simultaneously published on the commission’s website. Thank you”, the letter read.
The letter was signed by Ruth Oriaran Anthony, secretary to the commission.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Wednesday, INEC said it has now received the updated contact details from representatives of petitioners seeking to recall the senator.
In the statement, Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, said a letter notifying the senator of the petition has been delivered to her official address, copied to the senate presiding officer, and published on the commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the constituency. This will be done in the coming days.
“The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission. We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent”, Mr Olumekun said.
Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came in the wake of seating arrangement related altercation between Senator. Akpabio and the Kogi Central senator at the red chamber
She was subsequently suspended from the senate for six months for “gross misconduct” over the incident.
The constituents behind the recall move also accused her of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, and deceitful behaviour”.
The senator has denied wrongdoing and called the recall effort a “coordinated suppression” of her voice.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the second reading of a bill to upgrade the Lagos State 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to full-fledged Local Government Areas (LGAs ).
The bill, was sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers.
The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to Accommodate the Thirty-Seven (37) Development Area Councils of Lagos State as Full-Fledged Local Government Areas, Increasing the Total Number of Local Government Areas in the Federation to Eight Hundred and Eleven (811), and for Related Matters (HB. 1498),”
Once fully enacted, Nigeria’s total number of LGAs will rise from 774 to 811, with Lagos overtaking Kano and Katsina, which currently have 44 and 34 LGAs, respectively.
Proponents of the bill argue that granting full LGA status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people. The 37 LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu in 2003 when he was governor of Lagos State.
However, it’s worth noting that the Lagos State House of Assembly has been working on a bill to replace the 37 LCDAs with newly designated administrative areas.