CJN: Should the Senate get ready to be next?

THE  Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, has been removed by fiat of the Executive. And the debate goes on and on… “Considering the circumstances, it is not wrong,” some have said. “Whatever the case may be, due process was not followed; it is not right,” others claimed. In the cacophony of obviously partisan claims and counter-claims, the main import of the developments of the past few days in our body polity seems to be lost on the entire nation. Is democracy growing or going under, under our very eyes?

Onnoghen: Senate cancels emergency resumption heads to Supreme Court

History is a stubborn; it has a way of repeating itself, no matter how unsavory it had been. In December 1983, the argument of the military was that the political class was corrupt, hence, the need to truncate democracy and pave the way for a ‘corrective’ military junta. Whether or not the succeeding military regime, headed by then General Muhammadu Buhari was corrective is left for history itself to judge. The salient takeaway of that episode is that it took another 16 years for democracy to berth on the shores of Nigeria again in 1999. About 20 years on now, does it not look like Nigeria is going back to the drawing board?

With the latest development, there are many questions that should be agitating the minds of discerning Nigerians. The current Buhari-led government, right from inception, has made no pretence about its lack of regard for the rule of law where “national security” is of interest. And the rule of law presupposes that there is check and balances in the activities and relationship among the three arms of government, the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary, apart from taking decisions based on the ground norms as spelt out in the Constitution and other extant laws which are appendages of the Constitution itself. It is a well-known fact that under the current dispensation, there is no love lost between the Legislature, the national Assembly (particularly the Senate) and the Executive headed by President Buhari. Somehow, the National Assembly has been able to struggle to stave off some of the attempted encroachment of the Executive on its powers. For how much longer will it continue to stand before stooping under the firepower of the rampaging Executive?

Traditionally, it is the Judiciary that is generally seen as the most sacred of the three arms of government. Why? It is because unlike the executive and legislature which are peopled by ‘career politicians,’ the Judiciary is composed of professionals of the legal calling, though emergence of holders of its key positions is oftentimes subject of certain political considerations. But in all, holders of such positions grow through the ranks in the bench. Now, how sacred is the Judiciary in our democracy? If the Judiciary is no longer sacred, or not as sacred as it used to be, what is the fate of the legislature? In the event that these two arms of government eventually get subjugated by the Executive, what becomes of our democracy? Can there be democracy where the Judiciary and Legislature are helplessly answerable to the Executive? Does the Constitution not envisage that members of the Judiciary (and even the Legislature) could err before stipulating that a CJN can only be removed? Part of Section 292 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) states about the removal of senior Judiciary officers that: (a) in the case of “Chief Justice of Nigeria, President of the Court of Appeal, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Grand Kadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and President, Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, by the President acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate.” (ii) Chief Judge of a State, Grand Kadi of a Sharia Court of Appeal or President of a Customary Court of Appeal of a State, by the Governor acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the House of Assembly of the State,

Praying that he be so removed for his inability to discharge the functions of his office or appointment (whether arising from infirmity of mind or of body) or for misconduct or contravention of the Code of Conduct; (b) in any case, other than those to which paragraph (a) of this subsection applies, by the President or, as the case may be, the Governor acting on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council that the judicial officer be so removed for his inability to discharge the functions of his office or appointment (whether arising from infirmity of mind or of body) or for misconduct or contravention of the Code of Conduct.

Now, it is instructive that the National Assembly seemed to have been allowed to go on recess before the reported removal of the CJN was carried out, which did not allow the legislative body to have its constitutional input in the exercise. It is obvious that the Executive would not trust the National Assembly enough to follow due process. That means that if the removal of CJN stands, then the National Assembly, which has been facing public opprobrium itself over some of its conducts in recent times, should also be getting ready to taste the venom of the Executive. The problem is, where such a scenario will lead the country is better imagined. Lastly, since corruption has no tribe, religion, party affiliation or profession, fighting it, as a state policy, need not be done by a fire brigade approach. It has to follow the laid-down rules. That is if the country is desirous of still operating as a democracy. As things stands now, it doesn’t seem the country is. So, Nigeria’s National Assembly, get ready to face your own portion of the onslaught. God save Nigeria.

• Gbadamosi is on the staff of Nigerian Tribune