*Blames Poor Prosecution For Low Conviction Rates In Corruption Cases
*Describes Politicians As The Problem Of The Nigerian Judiciary
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A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yomi Alliyu has shared his thoughts about the ongoing constitutional amendment process by the National Assembly. In an interview with Nigerian Tribune, he expressed his doubts about the effectiveness of the amendment process. According to him, the current constitution is a democratic fraud on Nigerians and unreflective if the ideals and culture of the Nigerian society. He encouraged Nigerians to rise and demand a people-oriented constitution.
“What Nigeria needs is a comprehensive Constitution not a patch-patch rag tag one! But for the fact that nobody has taken it up by filing an action against it, this Constitution cannot stand. It told a lie against itself. It started with “We the people”.
Is we the people members of Abubakar household and other military juntas that constitute the people of Nigeria? The constitution has not been tested by public interested people and I think we will soon get there. It told a lie against itself when it says it is federal yet some federal agencies like NJC are appointing and disciplining state judges; ICPPC and EFCC are charging councillors to court for embezzling local government funds and Attorney General of Federation was executing judgment of the Supreme Court against a state.
The constitution as it is, is democratic fraud on Nigerian people; little wonder that it has been adopted by a fraudulent legislature for a fraudulent generation. Let us all rise and frame a constitution that is truly Nigerian in reflecting our culture and finance. Bicameral legislature at the national level is a colossal waste of resources. Ministries are in triplicates as in federal, state and local government. Why can’t the Federal Government face military, external affairs and finance and leave others like agriculture, education, VAT, trade, mining etc to the states.” He said.
On the role of the judiciary in Nigeria’s democracy, the Learned Silk stated that the judiciary is to serve as a watchdog to ensure politicians comply with laid down rules and electoral laws. According to him, the judiciary has never been the problem of Nigeria’s democracy, but the politicians who make laws and refuse to comply with the laws are the problem. He described the judiciary as fearless of which we should be grateful for standing up to the lawless tendencies of Nigerian politicians.
“As stated earlier, the judiciary has a role to play as the watchdog of the politicians. Laws must be obeyed. Think of it, the politicians are the people elected into the national Assembly. They make laws, not the judiciary. Laws are not made for fun. Who is to be blamed if a political party fails to comply strictly with the law? The full weight of the law must be applied without minding whose ox is gored. Judiciary has never been a problem in this democratic set up but the problem of the arrogant politicians who believe that laws are made for fun. We should be grateful to God that gave us a fearless bench. You can see what happened in Rivers and Zamfara states where the party in government had all its candidates disqualified in all elections from the state to National Assembly! Could that be done prior to 1999? From High Court to the Supreme Court, the decisions on Rivers and Zamfara were unanimous. That is a panel of no fewer than nine judges. The judiciary has matured; one hopes the executive and the legislature could grow up too.”
He further exonerated the judiciary of blame in the low rate of convictions in corruption cases saying that the executive is to be blamed for poor prosecution. He berated situations where the prosecution files multiple count charge against an accused and is unable to prove them beyond reasonable doubt. According to him, the judiciary convicts based on evidence adduced before the court and not the media.
“If anyone fails, it is not the Judiciary but the executive using prosecution for corruption as punishment for non-members of their parties. Like I said earlier, how can you bring up 20 to 150 charges against an individual and expect to prove all? What of the compromising roles of prosecuting agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). If one listens to recent allegations of finding some of their officers with billions of naira, one would see why high-profile politicians are escaping terms. The judiciary adjudicates on the evidence before it and cannot go beyond that.”
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