Serving judges should handle election tribunals –Ex AG Nasarawa

Do you still believe in Nigeria?Yes, I believe in Nigeria. I believe that until we all drop all our peculiarities and accept the national identity, we are all losers. We have lost being Yoruba, Igbo, , Hausa , Kanuri and all of that; those empires are gone and we stand to gain a lot by […]

Do you still believe in Nigeria?
Yes, I believe in Nigeria. I believe that until we all drop all our peculiarities and accept the national identity, we are all losers. We have lost being Yoruba, Igbo, , Hausa , Kanuri and all of that; those empires are gone and we stand to gain a lot by being together as one. It is worst for me in Nasarawa State where we have about 31 ethnicities. This is just in one state and so if we don’t solve that problem we cannot create 31 states.
So the earlier we accept the unchangeable concept called nationhood and change from the already abolished traditional empires and ethnic nationalities the better.
 What is your reaction to Musiliu Obanikoro’s confirmation by the senate despite public outcry?
If we want to have true justice every man must be presumed innocent until the contrary is proven by a competent court of justice. If there is an allegation against Obanikoro, which has not been institutionally decided, the constitution and the international law presume him innocent. If you look at the incident in the senate, the senate is not a court, and cannot punish him on the basis of an allegation. If you look at the requirement for confirmation in the senate for a ministerial position or commissioner’s position, the requirement is very simple. The person must have been qualified to contest for the senate and as a Senator of the Federal Republic, so the responsibility for the senate on whether they approve or disapprove of it must be on the basis  of the fact of whether the guy was qualified or not.
The principles of asking a former senator to take a bow are from the presumption that he is automatically known to have qualified having been a member of the senate. So the senate is foreclosed except there are new circumstances that would disqualify such a former senator.
 Does this not amount to new circumstance?
It does not amount to one because he has not been convicted by a court, so there is nothing wrong done by the senate. Interestingly, there was a quorum on that day at the senate which was formed by the PDP members so the walk out by the APC amounts to nothing.
Their absence does not matter because the majority required by the Senate is a majority as in a quorum of the Senate of the National Assembly.
Some serving judges who served as chair or members of election tribunals before now were alleged to have become billionaires and corrupt. Do you support the idea of using retired Judges to handle election tribunals?
If we have a problem with serving Judges handling the election tribunals and we have evidence against them, then we can hold them accountable and punish them by the National Judicial council (NJC).
However, how do you hold retired Judges accountable when they are no longer subject to the NJC. I think we should continue using the serving Judges to handle election petition tribunals because it is foreseeable that the serving judges can be held accountable when found wanting.
 What are your regrets as a former attorney general in Nasarawa State?
Just one; on a Thursday I was nominated and confirmed as the Secretary of the Bodies of AGs in Nigeria and I was  in Lagos when we held a meeting to discuss the judgment of JUSUN with regards to the funding of the judiciary that was responsible for the January 2015 JUSUN strike – that meeting was in August 2014 . I was also a member of the committee that was supposed to meet the Chief Justice of Nigeria at that time, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar and then to meet the leadership of JUSUN. It was such a hopeful committee and hopeful meeting by the BOB at that point. But while I was set for all these things that the judiciary does not go on strike, I was removed on that Friday. My regret would be that I believe that my participation at that level and my interaction being a labour person, having had personal relationship with JUSUN in Nasarawa State could have resolved that strike. I believed that in my mind but outside that I do not have a single regret.
 What is your take since the strike still persists in Nasarawa State?

I think the most irresponsible government you can ever have is the one that shut its door against its workers. This is all the people want. What happens in the past four months where someone commits a crime, this opens up conflict and self-help because everyone is entitled to a level of justice. If the state fails to open up the opportunity for people to access the mechanism for dispute resolution then we won’t have a society at all. Judges are the ultimate people who made sure that the laws are abided by.
So in the past four months I don’t think anybody has had access to justice in Nasarawa State. If an offence has been committed against you you don’t have access to justice; what we have now in Nasarawa State is a police state because the police arrest and if they decide to release, they do so.  I think it is the most unfaithful and irresponsible thing to do to shut down the justice system whatever the reason.