About two days after the Supreme Court judgement on tenure elongation, which sacked five state governors, including Kogi State, where election had been conducted about eight weeks before the apex court ruling, a reporter from a major newspaper contacted the Chief Press Secretary to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, on the next step the electoral body would take. The CPS remarked that INEC lawyers were studying the verdict and will advise the Nigerian public on the full ramifications of the judgement. He further stated that INEC will take a position after receiving its lawyers’ analysis.
While Nigerians were patiently awaiting INEC to do its investigation and consult the appropriate authorities in the said one week, surprisingly, the next day after the disclosure by Mr. Idowu of INEC, the electoral body announced its decision. Many Nigerians were astonished for the simple reason that most governmental institutions in Nigeria were yet to attain ‘speed of light efficiency’ in reaching even simple decisions. Yet, INEC, with a raft of tasks on its desk, was able to deconstruct with ease a complex issue like the interpretation of the apex court judgement, which seems to have yielded a plurality of meanings.
According to INEC, the decision it reached was derived from its interpretation of the Supreme Court judgement. An important aspect of INEC’s decision is that the December 3, 2011 Kogi State gubernatorial election in its thinking and wisdom remains valid. As such, Captain Wada Idris, the purported governor-elect from the troubled Peoples Democratic Party of Kogi State, is right to have been sworn in as governor by the President Customary Court of Appeal against the directive of the Attorney General of the Federation, who ordered that all speakers of the affected states Houses of Assembly, including Kogi State’s Hon. Abdullahi Bello, be sworn in as acting governors in line the Apex court ruling, which reversed the earlier decision of the appellate court on tenure elongation. There are however more far-reaching consequences of the current decision by INEC, especially on Kogi State, which will impact negatively on the Supreme Court judgement and Nigeria’s democracy.
First, is that INEC cannot determine for itself what the Supreme Court ruling will mean in a peculiar context like Kogi State where the gubernatorial election was conducted in December 2011. Yet, the Attorney General’s directive did not recognise the election in Kogi State, perhaps because it rested on the reversed decision of the appellate court.
Given the growing controversy that has emerged with the recent INEC’s decision, many public analysts have posited that INEC should not have looked inward for meaning of the Supreme Court judgement. Rather, it should have waited to see how the apex court justices would interpret the judgement in line with the Constitution. For emphasis, in most legal tussles, where a gap of understanding emerges in a judgement, thus creating a conflict. especially where there is not such common meaning for interpretation of the judgement, it is the court that passed the judgement that is best positioned to reconcile conflicts in interpretations of the judgement.
Indeed, this where Prof. Attahiru Jega missed the point. His reliance on INEC’s in-house team to reach a decision on such a complex legal issue after only a day’s deliberation is highly suspicious. This is not only very worrisome but it introduces a big question mark on INEC’s capacity to handle legal issues.
Second, INEC need not involve itself in deciding the interpretations of the apex court, especially in determining whether a particular election after the Supreme Court ruling is valid or not. This is more so in the face of the growing rumour that the Vice-President of Nigeria, a top PDP leader, intimidated the speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly and telling him to resign by force after being sworn by the Chief Judge of the State as the acting governor of the state. The use of the Vice President’s office was obvious because over 200 armed policemen were directed by the Inspector General of police to ensure that the controversial governor-elect, Captain Wada, was installed as the new Kogi State governor against the earlier directive of the Attorney General of the Federation.
So what is this? It’s politics because it is only an ideal judge that could determine the right answer to such complex legal question by interpreting the law as a whole. Jega, in reaching such a decision, owes Nigerians an explanation on the modalities he used in interpreting the judgement of the Supreme Court or the constitution of Nigeria as it relates to the judgement.
Any objective polity watcher in Nigeria understands that most events in PDP politics are often undemocratic and predicted negative consequences ignored. This is where it is believed that if truly INEC was independent as it ought to be on electoral matters, Jega should have acted wisely by isolating INEC from PDP politics. Rather, its decisions should be based on pure constitutional principles as interpreted by the justices of the apex court and not pure politics.
The obvious truth herein is that INEC in its premature decision on Kogi has not acted as a fair umpire but a creature of PDP politics. A study of Jega’s statement shows that INEC lacks the presence of legitimate reasoning in its action on Koji State, especially in the absence of cogent and verifiable reasons by INEC for hurriedly reaching that decision. For Jega to sustain his integrity, he must ensure that INEC’s decisions must be wholly divorced from political considerations or party affiliations.
Inspite of the blunder committed by INEC, for the substance of democracy in Nigeria, it must be stated with neither fear nor favour that Jega and his legal team lack the capacity and ability to analyse the specific intent of the Supreme Court.
Judgement interpretation involves much more than simply reading the Constitution or determining what the judges intended in the ruling. The solution to Kogi crisis lies in the hands of the Supreme Court justices because they understand the legal grounds used to reach the judgement in such a hard case. Why then did INEC jump to such hasty conclusions on Kogi State if not for political pressure that may have emanated from the PDP leadership? Could it have been possible for Jega to disobey the Vice President?
Even when it is obvious that judges are sometimes influenced by political and social trends, it is for INEC to abide by the decisions of the court. INEC must not allow politics to play a larger role in its activities as an umpire. The apex court has always defended its role and the constitution in electoral matters. As such, it is not for INEC or some so-called influential party leaders to force their self-styled interpretation of a judgement on the electorate. With the many objective criticisms on INEC’s position, Jega must feel compelled by his sense of honour to reverse his decision on Kogi State election because clearly, the matter has now become a major confrontation between the INEC and Nigeria’s democracy.
INEC’s intrusion in the work of the Apex Court should be roundly condemned, especially on such a complex matter that Jibrin Isah is in court to determine the authentic owner of the mandate of the Peoples Democratic Party, given his valid victory in the gubernatorial primaries election which before now was set aside by the appellate court ruling until its reversal by the apex court. Indeed, in such a very complex issue, it is the interpretation of the judges of the apex court that would determine who becomes the next Governor of Kogi State.
Whether the next Governor of Kogi State is Captain Idris Wada, the so-called elected governor from the very controversial December 3, 2011 election and anointed successor of the former Kogi State Governor or Jibrin Isa Echocho, the man who won the mandate as the people’s choice in the January 9, 2011 valid primaries of the PDP, what matters most is that justice is done and seen to be done.
Indeed, this is not an easy legal question. The apex court judges must perceive the necessity of a prompt interpretation of their judgement. But clear beyond the slightest doubt is that the present occupation of Lord Lugard House by Idris Wada as Governor of Kogi State is illegitimate until the Supreme Court justices give appropriate interpretation of their judgement
Shaibu, a Public Communications Consultant, is based in Abuja.