Destiny Obun Takon plies his law trade in Lagos. In this interview with DGossip247, Takon speaks on constitution amendment, corruption and why President Muhammadu Buhari must demonstrate his zero tolerance to corrupt practices.
Sir, between the National Assembly and the Supreme Court, which of these has overriding power over constitutional matters?
Well, first of all, I will like to say that every democracy like the western democracies of the United States, the United Kingdom and other developed countries of the world had their teething stage and I think ours is not an exception. Nigeria’s democracy is still evolving and largely experimenting; we hope that with commitment and some degree of nationalism, we will evolve a democratic principle that should be able to compete with others around the world. Having said that, what is happening now is novel as far as our polity and democracy are concerned. But, I think it is healthy because these are things that will evolve a sound democratic system that will make us beat our hands in the chest. You and I, our posterity will say we are proud to be Nigerians in the sense that our democracy is strong and can be compared with the other parts of the world.
As to which of the constitutional bodies, that is, the Senate and the Supreme Court has the supremacy or the overriding powers, it is not the question that should arise at all. If the Senate will refuse to submit to a matter before the Supreme Court where they are a party, it will simply in my view amounts to brigandage. It will simply amount to an attempt to stifle the democracy of this nation. It is not the question of competition or who is supreme but a question of the Senate having to identify exactly what its roles in the Constitution are and also recognise the roles of the Supreme Court. A matter before the Supreme Court, even if you are the Senate’s President or putting together all members of the Senate, they are obliged to await the decision of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which is the final arbiter. Not even the President, who as a matter of fact is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, can say he will not wait for a matter before the Supreme Court to be decided one way or the other. As a matter of fact, if the President toe that line, that will amounts to an impeachable offence.
I say that very boldly as a lawyer, if the President did that, it is an impeachable offence; that a matter involving his office is before the Supreme Court and he decides and say that he will not wait thereby rendering the court’s decision nugatory and of no effect, that will be impeachable. And so, the same goes for any member of the Senate or its President and I am saying the action amounts to brigandage and an act that is tantamount to an abuse of the oath of office which they sworn to defend. The Senate must submit itself to the Supreme Court. They cannot sit as judges in their own cause. They cannot say they have done all that they should do as far as the constitution amendment is concerned. It is only the court that can confirm this and that is why they must submit to the adjudication of the Supreme Court. If the President has run to the Supreme Court, they should also go there and state their case and let the court confirm how well they have performed in their assignment of constitution amendment. It is only the Supreme Court that can affirm that position. It does not lie in their mouth to say they have done all that is necessary to amend the Constitution.
The exercise they carried out on the constitution amendment is supposed to be a legal duty and not a personal one. So, their personal sentiments has no place whatsoever in this matter as to whether their time is up and that the Supreme Court might take time in coming up with its decision. They can indeed file a motion for an abridgement of time at the Supreme Court and ask the court to abridge time. They will only need to give their reasons for doing so. The Supreme Court’s panelist will sit on it and determine which way to go. But until that is done, it is not a personal thing like I said earlier but a constitutional exercise. The Supreme Court is also acting on it constitutionally. So, it will be too unfortunate as it were that if the Supreme Court will not abridge time like I said and they were to go out before a decision is reached on the matter. But, this does not give impetus to anybody by whatever office to assume that because the matter has been adjourned till June 18, when their tenure in office will have expired, they can go ahead not minding that their action will amount to subjudice.
How best do you think President Muhammadu Buhari can tackle the issue of corruption in Nigeria?
I was on air on a TV station for a programme and one of the questions I had to deal with was the issue of corruption. I was actually asked what the priorities for the Buhari’s administration should be. Then, I listed corruption, corruption, corruption and corruption. This is because it is very central to our national issues. Corruption in Nigeria is endemic and it is eating into the fabrics of our national life, governance and spirit as a nation. Why can’t we have electricity, for instance? It is because of corruption. Why can’t we build more dams and stop the usual complaints about non-existence of power in the dry season? It is because of corruption.
Why can’t we generate power from other sources like wind and solar, even if we don’t want to go hydro anymore? It’s all due to corruption. Why is it that every now and then, people in charge of power complaints about the gas pipelines being vandalised? The people who sabotage these gas pipelines don’t even need the gas. Each time they are broken, so much money is spent to fix them. Of course, Nigerians are not fool. It is those people at the top in these companies giving us power that hires saboteurs to knock off these gas pipelines.
They are also liasing with generator distributors all over the country. It is a known fact in Nigeria now that if you don’t own a generator, you are in trouble because you can’t have the comfort of some air touching your body before you fall asleep so that you won’t feel the heat anymore. Every morning, afternoon and night, you see queues of people with small kegs of four litres to power their generators. Everything is all on account of this corruption because generators have to be sold and also, each time gas pipelines are broken, huge sums are voted for repair and there are people who benefits. So, as often as these pipelines are being repaired, so also many people are making money. On the solution to the problem, I think we have laws that deal with corruption. We can intensify or aggravate the punishments for corruption. We’ve seen country like South Korea where people were sentenced to life or death for corruption. Even though, we may not imbibe the capital punishment but we can imbibe long-term punishment to deter people from engaging in corrupt practices.
Then, we should also look at individuals that are heading the antigraft agencies like the EFCC and the ICPC. People that have the will and who want to see things work should be appointed to head these agencies. These are people that have the zeal and are committed to a better Nigeria. We should ensure that there is so much discipline and some degree of surveillance were mounted at the courts to monitor excesses of judges. Their excesses should be reported to the National Judicial Council (NJC) and appropriate sanctions meted out. This is because if the anti-graft agency does its works, there should also be an issue with what judges are also doing. This is to avoid a situation whereby somebody who stole billions of Naira are not sentenced to just 7 years imprisonment or a fine of N3 million. The point I am trying to make is that all the actors in the fight against corruption must rise to the occasion and shape up; it must all start from who is the head.
Buhari has been seen by many as a no-nonsense individual and somebody with a zero tolerance for corruption. We want to see this playing out when he assumes office, because everything starts from the head. If the head is steadfast and maintains a zero tolerance for anything called corruption, then, it will spiral down the line. Just like he did in his days with Tunde Idiagbon on War against Indiscipline (WAI), we want to see his War Against Corruption. Let him intensify that fight. As I speak, you can walk into these anti-graft agencies offices, do a lot of things and get away with it, once you have money. I also subscribe to the establishment of anti-corruption tribunals to handle corrupt cases in Nigeria.
You can see it in light of what I have said so far. This will be a specialised tribunal. Giving the way we are at the moment, we need to set up these tribunals. These specialised courts should have the same jurisdiction as the high courts but with specific mandate to deal with corruption. Also, in appointment of judges to handle these courts, I will want the Federal Government to be in charge. The judges can be of the status of the Federal High Court. This is because I believe if the judges are appointed by the states, they can easily be manipulated. Also, this can also mean that each state will be having different arrangements on the issue. But if it is a Federal concern, there will be uniformity in results, appointments and positions.
Sir, what is your take on the gale of impeachments that is fast becoming the norm in the country with particular reference to Ekiti State?
It is just a signal that our democracy is still at the egg stage and primordial. It also tells you that these actions are not in good faith. It tells you that they are actions that are informed by vendetta and not in the best interest of the states involved. For instance, look at the case of the impeached Ondo State deputy governor who left the PDP for the APC. It is more like witch-hunting and just trying to get back at somebody for doing something.
These actions are bringing out the innermost part of humanity which is very anachronistic, primordial, unpolished and uncivilized, one wonders what is happening? Why are we having this gale of impeachments now that most of the Governors involved are close to the end of their tenure? If a man is due to leave in some weeks’ time why do you want to impeach him now? These actions are being taking in bad faith. When did you discover that he has committed impeachable offences? I bet you as a Nigerian that many of these allegations would have been there with the person as far back as 2 or 3 years ago. So, why will you now want to indulge in impeaching a man that is due to go in a fortnight’s time? Do you just wake up from sleep and just realised that an offence has been committed
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