I wish to start
this intervention with a story from the animal kingdom. An antelope was running
‘like mad’ at Yankari
Games Reserve and an elephant asked it: ‘wetin de porshuu you’ . The antelope replied that
policemen were arresting ALL the goats
in the community. The perplexed elephant then retorted: ‘but you no be goat’.
And the antelope replied: with the way our judicial system operates, it will take at
least 20 years to prove that I am not a goat! And he continued running.
The elephant wisened up and also
started running with an unusual speed. Are you wondering how I understood the
language of the animals? Then you must have forgotten that I am the
living Spirit!
The copyright to COURTocracy, to the best of my knowledge, belongs to Sam Omatseye, who coined the term in an article so titled in ‘Their Nation’ of 17/2/20. I don’t know what he will be saying today
when ‘Go To Court’ ( GTC)has become the hit-song of his APCian
partners Even as at today, I don’t know
if those who were boisterously shouting
GTC are still comfortable with the trajectory of the court cases. But that is by
the way.
Fifty eight years ago, Kwame Nkruma, one of
the immediate post-independence Pan Africanists, authored
a classical book titled ‘Neo colonialism, the last stage of
imperialism’ (1965, PANAF Books). I read it in my days at UI, when I
was a hot Marxian Pan Africanist and when my name was ‘Ik
Castro Muo’( the only Castro without beards!) and my friends
knew me more by Castro than by Ik! For
some unknown reasons, that title had been etched in my memory since then and
when I started laying the foundation for this intervention, I found it useful. Nkrumah
had propounded that under neo-Colonialism ‘The state is in theory independent and has
all the trappings of sovereignty but in
reality, its political system and thus its political policy is everything but
independent’. So, COURTocracy, as the last stage of Nigerian democracy, is the
situation, in which Nigeria has all the
trappings of a democratic state (
elections, three tiers of government, National Assembly, rule of law etc) but in
reality, it is anything but democratic as the power to decide who rules has be
wrested from the citizens and handed over to the courts. Sam Omatseye
had described COURTocracy as government of the people for the judges and by the judges but as it is
now, I describe it as government of the
people by the courts for their cohorts.
The recent declaration by John Cardinal
Onaiyekan, that “ I am still waiting for the court to determine
who won the election’, is a pointer to our descent into a full blown COURTocracy. Few days after that,
the Supreme Court declared Adeleke as the authentic Osun State Governor; though
he won the election 10 months ago, (17/7/22). Incidentally, it was the same
Supreme Court that declared Oyetola as
the winner in July 2019( This July sef!) following a questionable case
of inconclusiveness. So, what role did the voters play in this leadership recruitment process? And why
should our learned brothers (whose are in season now), look at the same law,
the same circumstances, the same sequence of events and declare the winner as the spirit directs? In the
recent Osun case, the Supreme court ruled in favour of Adeleke after the
Tribunal had ruled against him. And just
the other day, Chief Bode George told those lobbying him to congratulate Tinubu
that the elections were not yet definitively over! And then,
one Justice Tanko of Kano High Court
allegedly dethroned the Abia Governor elect, and other LP candidates across the
country for failure to submit the
party’s membership register 30 days before
the election. In one of the fastest judicial pronouncements in Nigerian
history, a case for which the originating summons was filed on 11/5/23, was
concluded on 18/5/23! If our judicial processes had always been that efficient
and swift, the antelope we encountered at the beginning of this article, would
not have been on the run. Anyway, the case took an interesting twist as before
long, people recalled how that same judge was sacked by NJC for unholy
conducts including delivering two
judgement on the same case and how he reappeared under questionable
circumstances in 2021 and is now back to his normal trade. And then
the Judge denied ever making any ruling
against Oti while even the Abia-PDP denied ever instituting any case against Alex Oti. But
be that as it may, this laughable incident has reminded us once more that the
courts are IN CHARGE!
The Psalmist had admonished the judges of his days How much longer will you give unjust judgments and uphold the prestige of the wicked? Let the weak and the orphan have justice; be fair to the wretched and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy save them from the clutches of the wicked: (Psalm82:2-4). Even if these question and injunctions were given ages ago, I wish to slam them on our judicial operators. The judiciary actually exists to interpret the laws and in the case of elections, adjudicate when there is disagreement as to the process or outcome. It did not start today and that was why Obi was able to reclaim his mandate so brazenly stolen by Eselu-Uba and Co including Ngige. Even the former comrade, Adams Oshiomhole, could not have become a governor if not for the courts( He is no longer a khaki-wearing aluta man). We then had the Amaechi-Omehia case in which someone who did not participate in the election became a governor. And just the other day, we had the Supreme Court Governor of Imo State, wherein via mathemagics, the last became the first( Matthew, 20:16). You see, our judicial operatives have now become gods; they work in mysterious ways! That they adjudicate on electoral matters is not the issue: the issue is that they make pronouncements beyond their powers and which most often lead to more questions than answers( Jhonny Nash 1972).
Today, the court has become the institution of first resort. That is why electoral victors are now advised to wait until the court speaks. The courts do not just determine who wins, they also determin who contests because they are now the author and finisher ( Hebrew 12:2) of the nomination processes; they anoint and de-anoint contestants and candidates with reckless abandon. On 20/1/23, the court sacked Umo Eno as PDP gubernatorial candidate for Akwa Ibom and recognised Michael Enyong; who scored 2448 out of 2776 in the primaries in the first place. So how did Eno emerge? On 1/2/23, Appeal Court reinstated Azubogu as APGA candidate for Anambra Central- a few days to election. His initial emergence as a candidate on 1/6/22, was nullified by another court. On 2/2/23, a court ordered INEC to accept LP candidates in 24 states manually or electronically. LP had communicated the list to INEC on 27/10/22 (almost 4 months previously) but INEC said its portal was faulty. On 10/3/23, the Supreme Court replaced Shekarau with Hanga as the NNPP candidate for Kano Central and that was after the elections. On 8/3/23, the Supreme Court also declared Greg Ibeh as the authentic Abia-APGA governorship candidate, when the election was just one week away, just as it affirmed Hembe as Benue LP candidate, 2 days to the rescheduled elections while a Court ordered INEC to list Udofia as APCs gubernatorial candidate, a few hours to the initially scheduled date of the elections. The Jalingo highcourt also ordered High-Neck not to remove Bchawa as the APC governorship candidate for Jalingo.The candidature of Lawan, Akpabio and Umahi, who are now ‘sinnators-select’, bear the intimidating imprimatur of COURTocracy. And a court authorised the use of temporary voters’ cards for elections after the presidential election. So, we are not sure of the candidates and we are not sure of the winners until as the Lordship pleases.
The key consequence of these shenanigans is the intimidating and galloping number of court cases and of course, a boom in the legal and judicial market. In 2007, under Maurice Iwu( who scored himself A+), there were 1299 electoral cases. Under Jega in 2011 and 2017, there were 751 and 677 cases. Under the current INEC chair, we had 811 in 2019 and 1044 (70% of all the seats contested for in 2023) and as at February, INEC has been joined in 1241 interparty cases for which it has budgeted N3bn for legal consultants- for a start. The spike in COUTocracy under Iwu ( 2007)and Under Mahmood( to date) is an indication of the level of impunity cooked by these electoral chefs, specially under OBJ and PMB, two imperious militicians, who created the enabling environment!!!.
The factors that
led to the advent and maturity of COURTocracy are multidimensional. In the
first instance, it is because of failure
of political parties, politicians, and candidates to abide by the rules of the election at
the party or general election levels,
and the constitution of Nigeria. As somebody had lamented, they do not
obey the laws of their parties, which they made themselves, they do no abide by
the laws of the country and they do not even abide by the laws of God or the
laws of the various oracles.
This is because of impunity facilitated by disdain for internal democracy,
money solves ALL problems mentality, and
avalanche godfathers in high
places. Sure, what we have is pretend-democracy;
democracy without democrats and without democratic ethos.
INEC also fails to
abide by its own guidelines or by the
constitution. The electoral act
stipulated electronic transmission of results and INEC assured that it was
non-negotiable. INEC then failed to do so and a court in Lagos ordered it to
comply with its guidelines but APC, which was not a party to the case applied
for leave to go on appeal. INEC also applies different benchmarks for similar cases in different places. In
Adamawa, Fintri was leading Bibnani( an
obviously anointed candidate, who also had the singular honour of printing our
electoral materials) with 31249 votes and it was declared inconclusive but in
Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun was leading Adebutu with 13915 votes and it was declared
conclusive. Of course, the Adamawa case was an award-winning one as the REC,
Hudu Yunusa-Ari, just took the microphone and announced Binani as the winner,(
and for the first time, INEC was shocked)
disappeared for a while and reappeared to declare that he did the right thing.
We all recall what happened in Enugu and Abia State gubernatorial elections were
results were COOKRD in Nkanu and Obingawa LGAs and how both them yielded
different outcomes. Still on INEC, more than 2
months after tribunal innauguration and about 2 months after Obi requested for
documents and after Mahmood had promised to supply ALL the documents, INEC had
only supplied 20% of the documents, and the APC lawyer had asked LP to manage the 20%. All this have fuelled the theory and practice
of COURTocracy.
Confused confusion Lady of justice
with one eye open
The judges are
experts in black-market injunctions and at times, judges at the
same level issue contradictory injunctions and/or judgements,
and this is despite the certainty
of sledge hammers from NJC. This will give a glimpse into the level of inducement involved. This situation, which became more rampant
since 2007 has led to complications and
‘confused confusion’. At times, the lady of justice which is
already distressed, appears with both or one of the eyes open so that justice
becomes a function of who is involved. In the alter of COURTocracy, all lawyers
become minor, subsidiary gods while the judges of all grades become the major
gods and all the judicial staff become
emergency church-workers., all in
the temple of injustice. In all this we forget the timeless
declaration by Justice Samson Uwaifo ( Rtd Judge of the Supreme Court)that A
corrupt judge is more harmful to the societythan a man who runs amok with a
dagger in a crowded street. At times, the press and some rogue
politicians cojoin to promote the
concept, theory and practice of COURTocracy as in the case of Abia state
governor elect. Clause 9 of the judgement specifically stated that the
candidates that participated in the election in Abia State were not parties to
the case and as such the court could not make an order. It was a prelection case that should have
been filed on 23/6/22 and ought to have been finished by 20/12/22
and Abia court had entertained a similar case. But how did a case in Abia State land in Kano?
Sure, they gave COURTocracy a bad name in the process.
Once in a while,
the courts offer real justice as when a Magistrate
Court in Gidan Murtala Kano sentenced a
cock to death for crowing too much. Yusuf Muhammad filed a case in court against
Isyaku Shuabu and his cock, complaining that the cock deprived him and the entire neighbourhood of sleep, thereby causing nuisance. The Magistrate,
Halima Wali, gave Shuabu an ultimatum to
kill the cock not later than Friday, April 7. That was on Good Friday when
Christ was murdered by his traducers. However, at times, the law as presented by the lawyers
and as interpreted in the court proves to be the REAL ass. In 2021, Roxana Ruiz, a Mexican lady succeeded in killing a man who attacked and sexually
assaulted her in her home . The Judge,
Monica Osorio, admitted that the woman acted in self-defence but then sentenced
her to 6 year jail term in addition to $16,000 reparation payment to Sinai Cruz's family because she used excessive force on the
rapist: she knocked him unconscious, strangled him, tried to dismember him,
left the body for 20 hours before packaging it and dropping it on the street.
The LEARNED judge averred that knocking the scoundrel unconscious would have
been enough! I digressed!
Back to COURTocracy, I admit that it has some
positive elements. In the first instance, it
leads to a bullish judicial stock-market. INEC has budgeted
N3bn for electoral legal combat; Obi,Atiku, APDP and INEC have assembled 129 SANs
just for the presidential petitions.
This is despite the assertion by The Lawyer (21/5/96) that too
many lawyers spoil the case, just as too many cooks spoil the broth. The NJC has already assembled 257 judges to
manage the various electoral cases. You can then imagine the quantum
of cash flow (including those under the table and in Dollars)within the
judicial ecosystem in the next couple of months and the positive impact
on Nigerians debt-drenched economy. The electoral process turned into what Bobo Brown termed electoral banditry,
which could not have worked without COURTocracy. COURTocracy has therefore
also improved the bandit economy
As I posited through the title, COURTocracy is
the last stage of Nigerian Democracy. This was signed, sealed and delivered
when people involved in all forms of unmentionable electoral criminality told
those adversely affected to GO to COURT. And those adversely
affected varies with time and space. And thus, while APC was on top in Lagos
and many other places, it suffered terrible nose-bleeding during the
Gubernatorial election in Wike’s PH. GTC
has taken a jocular dimension when even Tacha, who claimed that the cloth she wore to the 2023 Africa Magic
Viewers Choice awards cost $20k had
asked those who disagree with her to Go
To COURT!!! However, the Son of Man is wondering why a cloth that covered
nothing cost that much! You can go and verify!!! It has even become an item for Nollywood as a
Ghanaian actor, John Dumelo has
taken a swipe at Nigerian
judicial system ( vis-à-vis Ghana) due to these Go To Court tendencies.
Suzy Kassem has rightly declared that When people can get away with crimes because they are wealthy or have the right connections, the scales are tipped against fairness and equality. The weight of corruption then becomes so heavy that that it creates a dent that forces the world to become slanted so much so that justice just slips off. Lucky Goodluck had advised that ‘We must design a system where ballot papers must decide who leads us; not the courts. The ballot papers should select the leaders. Any country where ballot papers cannot select the leaders is doomed’ and Rafsanjani rued that It is not always nice that people voted somebody and the judiciary awards that to somebody else.
We all know the right thing but while we
await for that right time and date to do those right things, when the ballot will
determine our fate and future, we must continue to manage and finetune COURTocracy.
I agree with Tunde Daramola, former member of PDP-NEC, former member of
APC-Presidential Campaign Council that There is NO point voting in
election when winners are decided by the
courts, (Guardian. Saturday 13/5/23). In effect, what is
purpose of our voting when the judiciary
determines the eventual winners?
I have therefore, as a part of my community service and contribution to
national development, designed this
ingenious method of optimising COURtocracy and it works like this; those who want to occupy any position( because it is
their turn, because they have something or nothing to offer, because they can
do it or because their people or religion is underrepresented) should just declare themselves as winners of the given position. The declaration
will be something like: I,
Otunba Olaniyi, Otigbuinyna1 and
Alhaji Gburugburu, D.Sc Hons, PTD 419
Special Class,convict extraordinary, serial customer of EFCC, with triple
citizenship, hereby declare myself as the Governor of XYZ state. He
or better she(remember the Adamawa experience) will file the declaration with the appropriate court.
Others will do the same and the courts will then determine the authentic
occupant of the position, which will depend on the wizardry and witchery
of the lawyers, the depth of the pocket
of the declarants and their ability to
cause mayhem when the process does not
favour them. This method is cheap, swift simple and safe. My only
worry is that INEC, including their
contractors and consultants will GO TO COURT because this process will render
then useless.
What happened in
Turkey recently has further made a
mockery of our COURtocracy and Go Court Tendencies. The constitution required
50% for victory and the President, Edorgan, who is in charge of EVERYTHING got
49.52% as against his opponents 44.76%,
allowed for the run-off, which was scheduled within 2 weeks. In Nigeria, the
signs and wonders that would have followed, would have been unimaginable and
the number of SANs on parade would have reached Guiness Book of Records
dimensions. I have written it as I like
and If you don’t like what I have
written, please Go to Court!
Congratulations
here and there
To AJ Abosede, the first
home-grown Professor of Business Administration in OOU, who delivered the 108th
Inaugural lecture (Managing Enterprises: Trends, Travails and Takeaways) on
9/5/23. He introduced the 3Ts of management and recommended further studies on the nexus
between women empowerment and domestic stability( divorce rate) in Africa. To
the Management and Staff of OOU, led by Prof Comrade Agboola, for emerging 18th the
recent Nigerian universities ranking and
for the successful take-off of the OOU-Open & Distance Learning
Institute. To Prof EO George for his birthday celebration, send-forth from OOU
and Book Launch on 23/5/23
Alor2!
And to Chief Onyeka
Nnabugwu, (Ume-Ikemba, Okpataozuoha), who emerged as the Alor2 of Igbo-Ukwu on
7/5/23.
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