Ekiti: Rule of law or rule of the judge?

WEDNESDAY, 17 April, 2019 came. The Supreme Court passed its judgment in a suit involving Chief Segun Oni, former governor of Ekiti State and Governor Kayode Fayemi. For me, it was just a “Black Wednesday” when life appears to have come to a T-junction, with everything looking black and bleak. All of a sudden, it dawned on me that in spite of the very costly slide, there is hope. When our dreams of success are shattered, one thing can lift our heads up and point us forward-hope. Hope for a better tomorrow, for a brighter future, for a happier day. The suit filed by Oni against Fayemi was far from being an electoral matter; it was one inviting the court to declare: whether the defendant by virtue of the provisions of Article 2 of the 2014 guidelines of the APC which provided that any prospective aspirant must resign and leave office 30 days to the primary for the office he/she is seeking to contest was qualified to participate on May 12, 2018 as an aspirant in that election having regard to the fact that he (Fayemi) did not resign his appointment as a member of the Federal Executive and Minister of Solid Minerals, Mines and Steel Development, a position he did not resign from until May 30, 2018.

Two, whether the defendant was qualified to contest and participate in the said governorship primary of May 12, 2018 as an aspirant in that election having been found guilty by the Silas Oyewole-led judicial panel of inquiry set up by the State to probe his tenure. That the defendant won the APC’s primary on May 12, 2018 is not in dispute.The eligibility of the defendant having been queried, the plaintiff prayed the court to declare him the valid standard- bearer of the party having scored the majority of lawful and valid votes at the second defendant’s (APC’s) May 12, 2018 governorship primary for the purpose of determining the second defendant’s candidate for the July 14, 2018 election for the Office of Governor of Ekiti State, is the person that was validly nominated by the 2nd defendant for July 14, 2018 election for the Office of Governor, Ekiti State.

The judicial hill the plaintiff was asking the court to scale is dauntingly a question of law and unprecedented in the history of Nigeria. The allegations leveled against the defendant and prayer of the plaintiff before the court are self-explanatory, clear and unambiguous. Despite the validity of the plaintiff’s claims, Justice Uche Agomah of the Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti, dismissed the suit for lack of merit.  The three – man panel presided over by justice Adamu Juaro held that if Fayemi did not resign as Minister of Mines and Steel Development to contest the May 12, 2018 governorship primary election where he emerged as candidate, it was not enough to disqualify him. The judgment delivered by justice Agim held that Fayemi’s indictment by the Silas Oyewole-led judicial panel of inquiry set up by former governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose was not enough to bar him from participating in the election. The ruling by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, 17 April, 2019 on the object of focus came like a thunderbolt. It struck the case out, describing it as “mere academic exercise occasioning the award of cost.”

• Beyond Fayose: The future of Ekiti

Now, we have been told that a purely constitutional matter brought before our apex court for adjudication is not a function of a rigorous application of the rule of law but a function of the rule of the judge. This development raises a number of key concerns which need to be urgently addressed. The immediate past is a pointer to the imminent future. It is often said that the judiciary is the hope of  the common man. Justice is the soul of peace. Nobody can deny one and still enjoy the other. The Nigerian judiciary must cease to deny justice where it shouldn’t. This is the only major chance we have to say no to the era of impunity.

As far back as 1885, Professor of law, A.V. Dicey, in his book titled Introduction to the Study of law of the Constitution,  described the rule of law as equity before the law, or the equal subject of all classes to the ordinary laws of the land administered by the ordinary courts. Therefore, if judicial officials refused or neglected to observe the basic principles of the rule of law – a fundamental threshold upon which democratic government is built, they deserve the condemnation by the people. Officials must be reminded that if the house falls, everything falls with it. So, in the days ahead, Nigerians would want to know who did what and why the judges of the Supreme Court ignored the plaintiff’s prayer and relief sought thereon.  Finally, I salute the courage and patriotism of all the comrades involved in this struggle for obeying the call they feel obliged to answer in the interest of the nation. The people trust they won’t succumb to cheap blackmail and evil force’s attempt to pervert the course of justice. When God decides to enthrone, no powerful counterforce can hinder it. The road may be rough and the opposition may look formidable, once the matter is God – ordained, efforts of man is bound to come to naught.

• Ayeni writes in from Ado Ekiti