[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t was Frederick William Robertson who said, “There are three things in the world that deserve no mercy, hypocrisy, fraud, and tyranny” and I completely agree. Unfortunately, these three vices, not one or two, are exactly what define the ruling party in Nigeria, All Progressives Congress, APC, and emphasise the need to not show mercy to its characterised intransigence in spite of its avowed rhetoric of change. Talk about hypocrisy, duplicity and tyranny and APC pops up at your very before.
So much has been said lately by the APC, through its Rivers adjunct, about the nominations of two Rivers sons into the Ethics Committee of the National Judicial Council, a constitutional body surreptitiously being primed for imminent destruction by the hands of tyrannical governmental establishments in a bid to completely compromise the substructure of constitutional democracy in Nigeria and superimpose what can best be described as a democratic diarchy by military fiat.
The concerned gentlemen are Hon. Justice Iche Ndu (Rtd) and Okey Wali (SAN). The basis for the aggravated angst against their inclusion as members of the committee is simply that they are Rivers people and said to be ‘friends’ of the Governor of Rivers State. In fact, APC is even more infuriated by the membership Okey Wali (SAN) of the recently inaugurated Rivers State 50th Anniversary celebration committee, populated by distinguished sons and daughters of Rivers State including Agbani Darego and others, that they readily point to as evidence of his affinity to Governor Wike; including his being Governor Wike’s lawyer, and on the basis of that should stand disqualified from being members of the Ethics Committee of the NJC.
As for His Lordship, the Honourable Justice Iche Ndu, not much is said of him except that the entire trouble that the judiciary in Rivers State was bedevilled by, which prompted the closure of courts for over a year, was placed squarely on his shoulders and not at the doorsteps of the former Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, whose refusal to accept the nominee of the NJC as provided by law, was the Genesis and Revelation of the judicial imbroglio in Rivers State. Who would forget that in a hurry?
What the APC is not saying, is that neither Okey Wali, SAN, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association and accomplished lawyer of repute nor Justice Ndu, a former Chief Judge of Rivers State, now meritoriously retired, have been compromised by acts carried under their hands in the entirety of their individual careers.
What the APC is not saying is that the NJC Ethics Committee is a 27 member committee, of which 2 members are not just insignificant to derail the outcomes of the committee’s assignments but also makes the promoters of the logic of that possibility, mischief makers.
But APC’s protest smacks of inordinate hypocrisy. This is the same Party, whose leader, the current President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, has violated every piece of legislation providing for Federal character in the appointment of Nigerians to political offices. A Party that produces a President who justifies his lopsided appointments in favour of his kinsfolk on the basis of not wishing to work with unknown and untrusted hands; who sets out to appoint his family relatives into the Federal Cabinet and populates other related appointments with men of his tribe, now turns around to oppose the inclusion of distinguished Rivers Sons into a committee that exemplifies the diversity of the Nigerian nation and charged with duties they are competent to discharge? What defines hypocrisy and duplicity better than this? What speaks of tyranny better than this effort and the grand agenda to emasculate the judiciary and her internal bodies in a bid to loosen the restraints on the pervading lawlessness and give free course to illegalities?
INEC, EFCC and the entirety of the Security structure of the Nigerian federation are controlled by Northern Nigerians, from where President Buhari hails, against the norm and provisions of extant laws governing appointments into such offices. The APC, a Political Party that has devalued the rule of law in Nigeria’s democracy, made mockery of the essence of the diversity of our nation and promoted nepotism to the status of State policy is the same organisation that is querying the inclusion of men of impeccable character and unblemished reputation into a committee on the basis of their affinity to Governor Wike. It’s almost stupefying. What does the APC aim to achieve if not to further compromise our democracy?
The APC also says Governor Wike wields so much influence in the NJC that allowing people linked to him and from his State will completely compromise the NJC. As laughable as that is, one must say, its logic also falls flat on its face. Beyond mere propaganda, the stock-in-trade of the APC, what substantiates the influence of Governor Wike in the NJC? Does it now mean that because Rivers State is governed by a lawyer, lawyers in the State are forbidden from participating in the affairs of their profession? Does it make sense? Does the mere fact that judicial decisions are against the reigning impunity and that lawyers themselves now lead protests against the lawlessness of this government not impinge on its avowed integrity and so called credibility? Is that Governor Wike’s fault?
Why is the APC fear-stricken by Governor Wike? Is there proof of anything he has done that undermines Nigeria’s democracy, integrity and solidarity? Does Governor Wike not model a true Democrat and nation-builder who is focused on developing the lives of the people of his State? Is this not essence of governance? Why is his name being used as the pretext to further decimate the judiciary beyond the injury already inflicted on it by the Department of State Services (DSS) without any known and justified cause? Does Nigeria no longer practice democracy? Is that why Democrats are being taken hostage, slammed with charges and detained in flagrant disregard for the rule of law and the decisions of courts?
If the APC feels so pained about the inclusion of ‘friends of Governor Wike’, as they describe them, in spite of the credibility of their respective individual standing and in concomitance with the diversity of our nation, can they kindly begin the change process by prevailing on their leader to take out all personal relatives of his from both the cabinet and other government parastatals and spread the appointments to reflect the diversity of our nation? Won’t that be a good starting point and to exemplify exemplary leadership?
Do they really have the right to query justified actions, when they themselves ridicule every provision of our laws if not that their aim is to unleash an era of impunity, and are they to go unchallenged?
Finally, the APC through its Rivers Chapter has said it would make Nigeria ungovernable if the nominees are not dropped. Both the Police and the Department of State Services have done nothing known to the public about this. One is hoping that they won’t surprisingly spring to action against nationalists that will rise to oppose the suppression of democracy and the rule of law because as Frederick William Robertson opines, which makes perfect sense: hypocrisy, fraud and tyranny do not deserve any mercy, whatsoever.
Oraye St. Franklyn is a barrister-at-law. He is senior special assistant to Governor Nyesom Wike on Social Media. He is a strategic communicator and good governance advocate, writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He tweets from @RealOraye. He is also on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
