A Paradigm Shift

Recently the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court of Nigeria, removed five governors from office, ruling that their tenures terminated on May 29, 2011.  Those affected are GovernorsLiyel Imoke (Cross River), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa), Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto) and Ibrahim Idris (Kogi), and they are all members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).  The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had approached the apex court, requesting that it set aside the decisions of a Federal High Court and the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal which, in their separate judgments, extended the tenure of the five governors till 2012.

The electoral body contended that the lower courts misapplied the provision of section 180 (2) of the 1999 constitution, in holding that the statutory four-year tenure of the benefiting governors had not expired as at the time the elections were being conducted.  Consequently, urging the Supreme Court to hold that the tenure of these five governors actually expired on May 29, 2011.

Luckily, and prior to the judgment, the trio of Imoke, Nyako and Wammako had already secured their party’s ticket ahead of the governorship elections in their respective states scheduled to hold at different dates this year.  Imoke and Nyako have an advantage in returning to office, with the total support of the PDP and the Presidency.  The same cannot be said, however, for Wammako who has secured his party’s ticket but may still face a blockade from the PDP and Presidency because he did not support the candidacy of the then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan for president.  Kogi state already has a governor-elect waiting to be sworn in, following a governorship election that was conducted in December, 2011.  In the case of Timipre Sylva, who has suffered from one uninspiring event to another after he was disqualified from contesting in the Bayelsa state PDP primary with allegations of corruption (not to mention treason and a falling out with the President), there appears to be no recourse.  However, Governor Sylva is presently in court challenging the PDP’s decision to block him from seeking the party’s ticket.

This landmark decision might have gone unnoticed as with many other issues we are faced with in this country.  These ex-governors obviously cheated the constitution ruling with eight extra months.  To what intent then, dear petitioners?  Probably that justice might be done eventually.  But what good is the justice system if in its intent to set the tables the meal has already gone cold.  Who pays for the eight months unlawfully spent?  If they could cheat the nation of eight months what else could they have gotten away with?  Has justice really been served?

While we propose an answer for the questions above, it is imperative that the necessary measures to forestall a reoccurrence be put in place.  What steps should be taken to curb any future occurrence?  Who is to blame for this occurrence?  The Electoral Commission?  What were the early signs, if there were any, and where they ignored?  What were the pointers that their terms had already elapsed?  Where are the appropriate checks and balances?  The already amended Electoral Act?  There is no provision in the Act, and how many times are we going to do that?

There has to be a paradigm shift because the system/formula put in place by the electoral commission doesn’t work.  There is a need for an effective overhaul.

Now the Speakers of the State Assemblies in the affected states have assumed office as acting governors for the first time and INEC has to conduct fresh polls within a stipulated period, usually 3 to 6 months.  It is hoped that the books would be balanced, that Nigerians, relevant stakeholders, and especially the fourth estate would check the excesses with microscopic scrutiny, to bark and bite where it hurts, for monuments cannot be built in the excess of corruption.

They won’t stand the test of time.

Millicent Adanma (L.LB, B.L)

Writer and reporter for news media firm in Lagos

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