On the ban on former Governor Adamu Mu’azu

Therefore, any action aimed at sanitising governance and ensuring accountability is a welcome one. Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu knew that what was in place was a Judicial Commission of Inquiry and knew the likely verdict of such Commission. What is expected therefore is that the Bauchi State Government should proceed to recover through due process the […]

Therefore, any action aimed at sanitising governance and ensuring accountability is a welcome one. Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu knew that what was in place was a Judicial Commission of Inquiry and knew the likely verdict of such Commission. What is expected therefore is that the Bauchi State Government should proceed to recover through due process the funds they alleged were stolen.

However, it must be pointed out that the incumbent Governor of the State Alhaji Isa Yuguda deserves to be banned for at least 20 years for the fraudulent theft and transfer of the mandate of the people of Bauchi State to a party that criminally received such a mandate without going back to the electorate.

The theft of the sovereign right of the people to confer mandate on a party of their choice and the trading of such mandate through a process of unconscionable switching of mandate without the mandate of the electorate is the greatest political fraud and a violent breach of the constitution and such an individual does not have the moral standing and legitimate authority to ban anybody from holding political office.

Section 182 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides that no person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a State if he has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry or an Administrative Panel of Inquiry or a Tribunal set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act, a Tribunal of Inquiry Law or any other law by the Federal or State Government which indictment has been accepted by the Federal or State Government.

What the Bauchi State Government did is legal but the underlying political undertones that accentuated it are very clear. While it is right and fair to proceed against those that steal the common wealth of the people, those that activate the machinery of the law must also be above board.

The options open to Mu’azu are multiple. He can challenge the findings and indictment before the Court since the Judicial Commission is an inferior tribunal. He can also fight the ban politically as the main issues are politically motivated. The incumbent Governor is positioning for 2011 and wants to get his likely opponents out of the way.

Barrister Festus Okoye, Executive Director, Human Rights Monitor and Member, Electoral Reform Committee