I am using this medium to respectfully call on President Bola Tinubu to assent to the Peace Corps Bill recently passed by the National Assembly. It will be recalled that the Peace Corp Bills suffered a chequered history during the tenure of former president Muhammadu Buhari who ultimately declined to assent to the bill, despite being passed several times by the National Assembly.

Sir, the Peace Corp Bill is an important bill in the life of our nation and ought to be passed. At a time when our country is ravaged by insecurity arising from decades old fault lines, a peace corps aimed at orienting and educating the youths on the importance of embracing peace, cannot be overemphasised.

The argument of overriding security functions with existing security agencies, and overburdened running cost put forward by opponents of the bill every time it came up for presidential assent, can no longer hold weight in the present circumstances, and any such considerations, even if it were to be real, pans out when placed side by side with the benefits that the bill confers on the peace and unity of our nation.

All over the world, the Peace Corps contribute greatly to the peace, security and national values of any nation where there are domiciled. Nigeria should not be an exception. It is for these reasons that I urge you, Mr. President, to consider the great benefits of the Peace Corps bill and assent to it.

Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in a judgement delivered on Monday, disqualified the Bayelsa All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the November 11 governorship election, Chief Timipre Sylva.

Justice Okorowo ruled that Chief Sylva having been sworn in twice and ruled for five years as governor of Bayelsa would breach the 1999 constitution as amended if allowed to contest again.

The judge also declared that Sylva was not qualified to run in the November poll because if he wins and is sworn in, he would spend more than eight years in office as governor of the state.

Citing the case of Marwa vs Nyako at the Supreme Court, Okorowo noted that the drafters of the country’s constitution stated that nobody should be voted for as governor more than two times and that the parties to the suit agreed that Sylva was voted into office two times.

He further stated that the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Marwa vs Nyako that nobody can expand the constitution or its scope. So, if Sylva is allowed to contest the next election, it means a person can contest as many times as he wishes.

The group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari has emphatically stated that there is no subsidy on fuel in Nigeria.

He disclosed this to State House correspondents on Monday after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

This is as Kyari made a projection that Nigeria will start exporting refined petroleum products by 2024.

The NNPC boss made this declaration yesterday at the 2nd edition of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) Energy and Labour Summit (PEALS) in Abuja where he said that the country will soon be self-sufficient in product production.

Speaking on the theme, “Petroleum Downstream Deregulation and Utilisation for a Sustainable Energy Future in Nigeria”, Kyari also justified the federal government rationale for fuel subsidy removal, adding that without the move the NNPCL would have gone bankrupt.

He said that Nigeria needs to have sustainable energy that is anchored on the resources that are available and a replacement for biomass.

Kyari also advocated for a shift in the transportation system towards other energy sources, particularly for mass transportation which according to him, means Nigeria must do everything possible to bring to reality the current progress that is being made on CNG buses across the country.

“Today, we export 100 per cent of our production, no resource-dependent country does this and that is why we must deliver on our mandate .

So it will be done, and you will see. I don’t want to speak about it. We are tired of speaking about it. But what we must achieve is that this country must be the net exporter of petroleum products.

I strongly believe that in 2024, this country will become the net exporter of petroleum products. The meaning of this is that we will have sufficient volumes in-country, when refined locally, we do have advantages, creating wealth, creating taxes, and all forms of value, creating employment, and so on and so forth”, he said.

Recall that the National President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Festus Osifo, on Friday, said the government has restored subsidy on petrol, despite the official government policy of breaking with the subsidy regime since May.

However, Kyari explained that the occasional queues and lower fuel prices observed in some states were not indicative of a return to fuel subsidy.

He said the government was recovering its full costs from the imported products.

He said “no subsidy whatsoever. We are recovering our full cost from the products that we import. We sell to the market and we understand why the marketers are unable to import.

“We hope that they do it very quickly and these are some of the interventions the government is doing where there is no subsidy.

On fuel queues in some parts of the country , Kyari said these challenges were caused by blockades on roads connecting southern depots to the northern regions of the country, leading to delayed deliveries and temporary supply gaps.

He highlighted that full deregulation of the sector had led to healthy competition among marketers, resulting in reduced fuel prices at some stations.

He said this price competition had led to some customers flocking to stations with lower prices, potentially causing panic among those unaware of the market dynamics.

Kyari reassured the public that there is an ample supply of fuel, with over 1.4 billion litres of products available, both on land and in marine storage.

He also emphasised that there were no issues with the delivery of products.

Regarding foreign exchange issues, Kyari mentioned that the government was actively working to ensure a stable foreign exchange market.

He acknowledged that the current exchange rate of around N770 to the US dollar was part of the transition towards a more stable market, aligning prices of petroleum products with other commodities.

He said “we have seen in very few states pockets of very low queues. Not unconnected with the road situation that we’re seeing the number of blockades on our road crossing products from the southern depots into the northern part of the country and it takes them a much longer time than they do now.

“They have to reroute the trucks around many, many locations for them to be able to reach and that created delays and some supply gaps.

“But that has been filled and we do not see any of such problems again. And secondly, because of the full deregulation that we have in this sector, marketers are now competing amongst themselves.

“So you must have noticed some fuel stations will reduce prices by N2 and N3 so customers will naturally run to the places where you have that reduction in prices.

“And that creates panic, because for those who don’t know why they are doing it, they will think that there’s something wrong happening, or there’s an ominous sign of scarcity or people start queuing up in the fuel stations.

“Otherwise, there is no challenge. Supply is robust. We have over 1.4 billion litres of product in our hands both marine and land. Also there are no issues around delivery of those products into the land.

“So there is no fear, nothing to worry about. But we are also happy that the market forces are now playing out and marketers are competing and of course there are a few issues we’re engaging them to resolve alongside other agencies of government and critical issues around access to foreign exchange.

“And as you all know, the government is doing so much to ensure supply of FX into the market.

“We know that this FX market will stabilise and the current I&E window is around 770. And we know that with those inputs that’s already happening, the inputs of the government today will crystallise and also they will come to an equilibrium position in the FX market and this is a dream of this country.

“So they will have a stable FX market, a stable product market where the prices of products will also speak to prices of other commodities.

“And this is already manifesting and we think this is the economic revolution that this country needs,” he said .

Meanwhile, PENGASSAN national president, Comrade Festus Osifo called for a salary benchmark for oil and gas workers.

Speaking at the PEALS, yesterday, Osifo said the salary was necessary to align with the instrument of trade of the oil and gas commodity.

According to Osifo, the model practiced in Angola, where legislation pegs workers’ salaries in dollars and pays them the legal tender equivalent, is a testament to the possibilities of safeguarding the interests of workers amidst currency fluctuations.

He stresses that the recent floating of the naira by the federal government in the official market has exacerbated the challenges faced by oil and gas workers.

He emphasised that Nigeria must explore innovative solutions to forestall financial losses to workers and prevent undue gains to companies, ensuring a fair and equitable environment for all.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has severely criticised the European Union (EU) over its report on the Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, saying the report did not give the true position of the last election held in the country.

Wike, who made his dissatisfaction known when the EU Ambassador to Nigeria, Samuela Isopi, paid him a visit in his office on Monday, said that the report created a wrong impression on the minds of the electorate especially in his native Rivers State.

The Minister said the EU was supposed to serve as an observer during the last elections and not to present a report that would not give the true picture of Nigerian democracy.

Recall that the European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM), through the chief observer, Barry Andre, had in June presented its final report on the 2023 general election, and highlighted six priority areas with recommendations.

Wike, however, said Nigerian laws can not be the same as those of the EU because they have different environments.

“I did not agree with the European Union over the last report on the elections in Nigeria. They are to observe. Nigerian laws can not be the same as EU laws because they have different environments.

“In Rivers State, the EU’s report was different from what transpired there. How can people who believe in democracy and practice it be portrayed as people who do not understand democracy?

“Our concern should be how to make the economy grow better, we have to cooperate and agree on specific areas of development in the Federal Capital Territory and the entire country. Foreign partners should be concerned with strategic development irrespective of the areas,” he said.

The European Union Ambassador to Nigeria, Samuela Isopi, while responding, said the report was put together by independent observers and has nothing to do with her operations.

She pledged the Union’s commitment to work with the Minister to boost development in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and beyond.

London-based Financial Times publication says there are signs of President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms not going as planned.

In an editorial, the publication noted that although Tinubu started well by removing fuel subsidy and moving towards a market-driven exchange, events in the past four months show that more work has to be done.

“In removing a costly fuel subsidy and in shifting towards a market-driven exchange rate, which has sharply weakened a previously overvalued currency, he has gone some way towards persuading investors he is serious about reform. But four months into his presidency, there are signs of things going awry,” it said.

The report noted that the removal of Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), raised eyebrows due to its unconventional nature, giving the impression of political reprisal.

“The removal of Godwin Emefiele, the previous governor, was overdue. But its manner, initially via a charge of firearms possession, was odd and smacked of political revenge. More substantively, the new exchange rate regime has yet to be properly explained,” the report said.

“On how the new CBN management can stabilize the financial system, the report said the new CBN leadership will most likely increase the interest rates to curb inflation.

“Markets consider Cardoso, a former Citibank Nigeria chair, to be a sound appointment. (The same cannot be said of all of Tinubu’s picks.) The incoming governor will probably need to raise rates at the next policy meeting to establish his inflation-busting credentials. Tinubu must restore institutional independence by leaving the bank to get on with its job. In other areas, the president needs to be more active – and more articulate,” the report said.

It said in other areas, Tinubu needs to be more active and more articulate.

“He should spell out his policies to a skeptical public. He should also refrain from announcing plans — including the restoration of democracy in Niger — without any real idea of how to implement them. Execution is key. Only four months into his presidency, what started out with a bang risks becoming a whimper. Tinubu needs to regain the momentum,” it said.

The Lagos State Government says it has suspended its planned mass burial of the 103 corpses recovered in the wake of the October 2020 #EndSARS protest.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, told The PUNCH on Monday that the planned mass burial had been suspended, following the controversy generated by the announcement in July.

In a leaked memo dated July 19, 2023, the state government had said it would conduct a mass burial for the 103 corpses, The PUNCH reports.

This had raised dust among human rights campaigners and civil society organisations.

A human rights organisation, Amnesty International, and a group under the aegis of the Coalition of #EndSARS Protesters and Supporters had demanded that the state government should suspend the planned mass burial.

In addition to the suspension demand, Amnesty International had asked the government to “also carry out transparent coroner inquest and autopsies on the 103 #EndSARS victims.”

In its reaction, the state government through the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Mr Gboyega Akosile, exclusively told The PUNCH that the government would “conform to global best practices” in carrying out the mass burial.

When asked for an update on the matter on Monday, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy said the planned mass burial “remains suspended to give people ample time to identify their relatives that may be among the corpses.”

“It is to allow more time for identification as suggested when it was disclosed that the government was planning a mass burial for them,” Omotoso said.

He stated further that “up till now, nobody has shown up to identify any of the corpses. But the government has decided to give people more time.”

He added that the planned burial would “be carried out soon, but because of the controversies around that time, it was suspended. People now have the time and ample opportunity to see if their relatives are there.”

The Federal Government says it will soon issue an order, compelling airline operators to start paying compensation to passengers for delayed and cancelled flights not attributed to natural occurrences.

Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo said this during a meeting with airline operators in Abuja on Monday.

“On delayed flights, I want to speak for ordinary Nigerians who complain every day [about] delayed, cancelled flights. I know you have said all your reasons. You have blamed the government and a few things we do. But I also want to say that it is not all the time that it is government,” he said.

“At times, you say you were waiting for passengers to finish passing through the screening machine. At times, they have finished passing through screening machines. They are waiting in the lounge for five hours and you cancel your flight.

“So, you see, after some time, we will start implementing the provisions of the NCAA Act. You know, Nigerians don’t know there is compensation for delay. If it is an act of God, you cannot pay. But if it is human fault, the NCAA Act says you will pay. So, for all airline operators, while I have praised and supported you, I will also support Nigerians. You will pay them. After some time, I will put my feet on the ground. Pay them when you delay, cancel their flight.”

However, Keyamo urged the airline operators to build stable communication channels that enable passengers to get cancellation notices.

2 6 Years after Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the godfather and exponent of Afrobeat, passed on, his relevance as a global icon and the recognition of his message was delivered to a global audience, with the Broadway musical production, Fela. Afrobeat fans have long appreciated his jazz-inspired musical arrangements with a horn section at par with the likes of Brass Construction and Earth, Wind and Fire. More recently the neo afrobeat genre, is taking the global audiences by storm with Bruna Boy, Whiz Kid, Davido and Asake to name a few.

Fela used his prodigious talent as a tool to fighting injustice, highlighting social, economic and political problems. The activism in the Ransome-Kuti family can be traced to his mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, an early anti-colonialist and women’s rights activist. She also holds the record of being the first woman in Nigeria to drive a car. His Gentleman Reverend father in retrospect, must have silently supported and approved.

Fela’s strength lay in is his intrinsic ability to tell stories about his experiences. He gauged, felt and connected with the economic, social and political issues of the common man and arranged his songs and music around them. Consequently, Fela’s recordings such as, ‘Chop and Quench’ ‘Yellow fever’, ‘Follow Follow’ Zombie’, ‘Suffering and Smiling’, ‘Power Show’ and ‘Authority Stealing’ have become an integral part of the Nigerian vocabulary and cultural landscape. Prophetic nature of Fela’s music is affirmed by the contemporary situation in Nigeria today. Poverty, lack of social infrastructure, corruption and institutional theft, are still rampant almost 30 years after his original releases highlighted these same issues. The last two years especially, has witnessed serious challenges and shocks to the fundamentals of the Nigerian Economy. Exchange rate in a year went from 460 to1000 Naira/Dollar and Inflation from 11-30%.

In 2016, GDP Growth rate crashed from 6% to -2.25% plunging the economy into recession, currently recovering within an upward trajectory growth of 2,8%. This is however still lower than our population growth of 3%. The overall impact is reflected by price increases across board, and stagnant income levels, leaving Nigerians struggling to adjust to a new reality with fuel price increase and single window exchange rate mechanism. An entry level saloon car which cost 4Million Naira 5 years ago is now retailing for 40Million Naira. In economic terms, what we have experienced in the last two years in Nigeria, is stagflation; the impact and interplay of negative GDP growth, high Inflation, high interest rates and exchange rate devaluation, resulting in high price levels, erosion of purchasing power and savings. The new government is yet to respond, despite a finance and economic coordinating minister and a new central bank governor. We await the 2024 budget to get a better idea of what the future holds. Fela already had visions of the state of Nigerian economy in 2023. In his 1989 release ‘Overtake Don Overtake Overtake, ODOO’, Fela who was not a trained economist, once again captured the mood prophetically. The song, graphically illustrates the economic reality we have experienced over the last two years. After a medley of his old songs, warning that he had sung about certain sociopolitical situations before and the issues were still current, he proceeded to tell the story of a level three civil servant saving to buy a fan. The civil servant started to save for the fan when it was 75Naira. Unfortunately by the time his savings had reached that amount, the price of the fan had gone up to 200Naira. Not to be deterred our subject saved diligently until he met up with the new price. On his way to the store to buy the fan, there was breaking news that the government had devalued the currency and introduced a second tier foreign exchange system. As a result the price of the fan had gone to 700Naira, proclaiming a situation of perpetual poverty for the common man as a result of adverse economic policies. “Government announce second tier everything tear to pieces, second bass jare”.

The turnaround expectations for the new government are high. With 95% of revenues going towards debt service and unstainable debt levels, stagflation and massive devaluation of the Naira, one wonders what Fela will make of Nigeria’s current economic predicament.

Fela was a thorn in the side of the Nigerian Military dictators, and most of his recordings were about the misrule and illegal regime of “Soldiers” and how they jailed and mistreated him. “Soldier go Soldier come” Lucky for this administration he is no longer here to comment.

With a new generation of millennials exposed to Fela’s music and the unfiltered proliferation of his music online, perhaps the best recognition of the impact Fela has had on our social, political and economic consciousness, is for the broadcast commission censors to lift the ban on certain songs, allowing unrestricted public airplay for all of Fela’s recordings.

Nigeria and Nigerians, never seem to amaze me. We move from one saga to the other, like a television ‘soap’ series where there is always one plot or the other, and we seem to love spending precious man hours on unproductive issues, and even let them overshadow the more important things that we should be concentrating on, like the hardship that Nigerians have been passing through due to decades of institutional corruption, inefficiency and bad governance. When on October 1, people were sending me Happy 63rd Independence Day messages, I asked a couple of them what the greeting meant. What is happy or significant about our 63rd Independence Day? Tears filled my eyes when I thought of a country like South Korea that was in a pitiable condition at the time of our independence, but over this same period of time that we have wasted on nonsense, has transformed to a First World nation, and without any mineral resources to bolster their economy, I might add; or a place like Dubai which has become the tourist centre of the world in less than 30 years, possibly the number 1 that Nigerians, especially our politicians love to visit and also reside there, while Nigeria shamefully remains stagnant or even continues to regress, despite all the ‘goodies’ that God has endowed our country with. It is indeed, painful and thought provoking. What Nigerians want to see is traction and progress, in all spheres of our lives; we are excited and hopeful that our country will start to evolve to meet global best practices and the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy contained in Chapter II of 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended in 2023)(the Constitution), instead of the daily unfolding fruitless dramas that seem to be the norm these days. 

Unimpeachable Candidates: A Thing of the Distant Past

Since we tend to drift from one drama to the other, as far as I’m concerned, it is safe to conclude that Nigeria left the ‘Scene’ of unimpeachable political candidates possibly since the time of our founding Fathers, and today, we have sunk so low that it is the norm for most of our so-called leaders to have one skeleton or the other in their cupboard. We haven’t forgotten the money laundering allegations levelled against the PDP Candidate, Atiku Abubakar and his wife in USA, and financial impropriety allegations levelled against him here in Nigeria, even by his former Principal, former President Obasanjo (though OBJ never seems to see much good in others); nor the issue of the Labour Party Candidate, Peter Obi and the Pandora Papers; nor have we forgotten how former President Buhari had issues with his WASC Certificate during the 2019 PEPT. Government officials who do not have allegations of financial impropriety levelled against them, are in the minority. Unfortunately and embarrassingly, the list of politicians and the skeletons in their cupboards seems to be endless, and so, I’m wondering why those who also have things to hide are trying to appear saintly, and casting stones on the ‘alleged suddenly lone sinner’, President Bola Tinubu! Or is it just the attitude of a spoiler, as we say in Yoruba: “Kaka ki eku ma je sese, afi se awadanu”, that is, “If I can’t have it, nobody else will have it, so, let us scatter it”. This is definitely not to say that because most of our leaders are accused of something or the other, that I condone wrongdoing, No. I do not. 

The present frenzy about the American court case centred on Chicago State University and President Bola Tinubu’s credentials, Case No. 1:23-cv-05099 In Re Application of Atiku Abubakar; Chicago State University, again evinces many facts, some of which I have always maintained, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record or Cacofonix (to those who don’t want to hear it), I will once again restate some of them: 1) Law and Morals are not the same. Sometimes they may intersect, in that, what is immoral may also be illegal, like Stealing, but many other times, many things that are immoral are either not unlawful, or are not caught within the sanction process of the law; 2) Law is not logic, and the administration of justice isn’t done by logic, or settled by emotions or in the court of public opinion – we have the Constitution (which obviously requires a total rejig), statutes (in the case of electoral matters, the Electoral Act 2022 (EA), our legal principles, rules of interpretation and good judicial precedent, as our tools; 3) The Law can be an ‘ass’, depending on which side you are on; 4) The Courts must start to award punitive costs, when Lawyers bring actions which constitute gross abuse of court process to clog up the court system; 5) The LPDC & LPPC should be more up and doing, in the discipline of Lawyers who engage in abuse of court process and inciting the public against the Judiciary/needlessly bringing the Judiciary into disrepute.

Judiciary as a Scapegoat 

As usual, the Judiciary is the scapegoat, and has already been put on trial again. In fact, the Supreme Court has already been tried and convicted, if they do not admit the fresh evidence Alhaji Atiku’s legal team seeks to introduce on appeal at the Supreme Court, or if they do not disqualify President Bola Tinubu, or if they do not overturn the 2023 Presidential election and call for a new one, possibly based on the new American court proceedings about his credentials, since it is obvious that the Presidential Election Petitions failed woefully on most grounds at the PEPT. 

But, as a Lawyer of 32 years standing who does nothing but study the law, day in day out, it is my duty to point out a few facts, since many of our learned colleagues have gone to town, turning the law on its head, to mislead the public.

Position of the Law: The Constitution, Electoral Act and Judicial Precedent 

Section 131 of the Constitution sets out the ‘qualifications for election to the office of President’, while Section 137 provides for disqualification for election to the office of President. This is self-explanatory. It means the conditions you have to meet in order to run for election to the office of President, or conditions, which if you don’t meet, you cannot run for office of the President. It seems to me that, from the wordings of those constitutional provisions and by virtue of the new Section 29(5) of the EA, matters that border on the qualification of a candidate to stand for elections or disqualification, are pre-election matters, as they are issues which come into play before the election, which by virtue of Section 285(9) of the Constitution and 29(5) of the EA must be filed by a co-aspirant of the same party  at the Federal High Court not later than 14 days from the date of the occurrence of the event or decision complained of. This provision is clear and unambiguous. Section 285 (14)(a)-(c) of the Constitution then goes on to define pre-election matters, while Section 29(5) of the EA restricts to co-aspirants who participated in the Primaries, those who can institute proceedings in which they have reasonable grounds to believe that information provided to INEC by their fellow aspirants in their Forms are false. 

My first submission therefore, is that it is trite that matters bordering on qualification and disqualification of a candidate to run for election is a pre-election matter, which in the case of a candidate of XYZ Party, can only be instituted by another aspirant who ran in the XYZ Party Primaries for the same electoral position (not even any random member of XYZ Party), and not by a member of ABC Party who ran in the election against the candidate of the XYZ Party being complained of. This is a well settled principle of law, enunciated in a plethora of cases. In Akinlade & Anor v INEC & Ors (2019) LPELR-55090 (SC) per Ejembi Eko, JSC, the Supreme Court held that “…. the disqualification of a candidate on grounds of false information in his Form CF001 is a pre-election matter, by dint of Section 285 (14) of the Constitution”. Such action must be brought within 14 days of the occurrence of the event complained of, and “A cause of action extinguished and statute barred by operation of Section 285(9) of the Constitution remains extinguished, and cannot be reviewed subsequent in an election petition as a ground for questioning an election”.

It is therefore, strange that though this principle was also well enunciated by the Supreme Court in a past case concerning Alhaji Atiku Abubakar after the 2019 Presidential election, that is, Atiku Abubakar v INEC 2020 12 N.W.L.R. Part 1737 Page 37 where the Apex Court also made it clear that disqualification of a candidate on grounds of false information contained in his Form CF 001 or EC 9 (Affidavits in Support of Personal Particulars of Persons Seeking Election into Office) is a pre-election matter, ironically, he is the one that is harping on this matter which he not only appears not to have locus standi to bring, not being an APC Presidential Aspirant, but seems to be time/statute-barred. 

I will not delve into the subject-matter of the American case, since it has become ‘sub judice’ as whatever has resulted from the ‘Discovery and Inspection’ in it, has been sought to be presented  to our the Supreme Court in the pending appeal. 

However, a pertinent question to ask is, whether the Supreme Court has the jurisdiction to admit fresh evidence.

Introduction of Fresh Evidence on Appeal

While it is possible for fresh evidence to be introduced on appeal with the leave of court, the conditions for such leave to be granted were restated in Williams & Anor v Adold/Stamm Intl (Nig) Ltd & Anor (2017) LPELR-41559(SC) per Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, JSC, the first condition being that the evidence sought to be adduced must be such that it couldn’t reasonably be obtained for use at the trial, or they were matters that occurred after judgement had been delivered. President Tinubu graduated from CSU in 1979. Alhaji Atiku even gave credit to late Gani Fawehinmi, GCON, SAN who died 14 years ago, for inspiring him to  follow up the CSU matter, confirming that it is an old issue which the details could have been sought and obtained long ago. Section 29(3) & (4) of the EA mandates that INEC publish the personal particulars submitted by all candidates within seven days of receipt of same, and anyone can apply for a CTC of those documents which will be made available by INEC, upon payment of the prescribed fee for same. The details of the personal particulars of all candidates in the 2023 general elections, were available to the public since 2022.

Last week, I watched an interview on our Arise TV, in which a young learned colleague, also a PDP Spokesperson in discussing the CSU case cited the case of Hon. Hassan Saleh v Chris Abah & Ors (2017) LPELR-41914(SC) which he used to introduce the topic of forgery, which is obviously a criminal offence, even if one may try to cleverly restrict it to only a constitutional matter of Section 137(1)(j) of the Constitution. In the 2023 Machina/Lawan case, though I respectfully disagreed with that decision, the Supreme Court looked beyond the Federal High Court’s Practice Directions that provides that pre-election matters should be commenced by Originating Summons, and the majority held that since there were contentious issues to be tried in the matter, the Petitioner should have come by way of Writ of Summons. In the same vein, the Apex Court can lift the veil of a constitutional matter which doubles as a criminal matter and decline it, since Section 232(2) of the Constitution, prevents the Supreme Court from assuming original jurisdiction in any criminal matter. This means that if we are to go by the fact that a party is claiming that a candidate forged any of his credentials or supporting documents, it appears that this is a matter that the Supreme Court may not have jurisdiction to entertain at first instance. It should have been a pre-election matter for trial at the Federal High Court. In Williams & Anor v Adold/Stamm Intl (Nig) Ltd & Anor (Supra), the Supreme Court held that for the sake of doing justice, it cannot confer on itself jurisdiction that the Constitution doesn’t confer on it. The Supreme Court is also not a trial court, and introduction of a fresh matter which requires proof beyond reasonable doubt and oral evidence, may breach a Respondent’s right to fair hearing which is guaranteed by Section 36(1) of the Constitution. In Chief Ikie Aghwarianovwe v Oborevwori Sheriff Francis Orohwedor & 2 Ors SC/CV/614/2023 delivered on July 7, 2023, the Supreme Court listed the requirements that must be established, for false information under Section 29(5) & (6) of the EA. Proof beyond reasonable doubt, is definitely required.

Conclusion 

I can only conclude that the American voyage of discovery and inspection embarked upon by Alhaji Atiku and his legal team, may be one that can only serve as a platform for public debate about morals, and at best, diminish the standing of a political opponent in the eyes of the public – in legal parlance, to bring the person into odium and opprobrium – nothing more. 

As far as the law is concerned, the voyage appears not to have any merit – knowing that as the law stands today, it is trite that a political opponent in an opposing party does not have the locus standi to maintain an action based upon qualification against a rival in another party, nor can one bring an action that is statute/time barred. 

Nevertheless, I think it may be time to review some of the relevant provisions of the EA, so that, in the end, it doesn’t appear as if people are allowed to profit from their alleged transgressions. Does it mean that if there is no bitter co-aspirant from the same party to challenge the issue of qualification on time, then a transgressor will get away with his/her sin, even if it may have been discovered after the little window provided ? Should issues of qualification and disqualification be allowed to be part of election petitions and open to opponents from other parties to raise, in order to give litigants the option to fire from all sides and fight from all available angles, instead of the restrictions placed by Section 29(5) of the EA? My dear colleagues, please, share your views on this issue. 

Speaking recently at the opening of a two-day retreat for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom state, Vice President, Kashim Shettima, made a profound statement which succinctly explains the central mission of the Nigerian nation. In part of the widely publicised speech, the Vice President stated that “if Nigeria fails, the black man has failed,”—reiterating Nigeria’s leadership responsibility to Africa and the entire black race. Although Shettima was addressing members of the National Assembly, his thought-provoking statement serves both as an inspiration and a call to action to all Nigerians, irrespective of tribe, religion or political affiliation.

When one rises above the superficial type of social analysis and thinks deeply about the above statement, one realizes that the flip side of the same truth is that if Nigeria succeeds, the black man has succeeded. For those who understand the Manifest Destiny of the Nigerian nation and the leadership responsibility that accompanies that destiny, Shettima’s clarion call couldn’t have come at a better time. At such a time as this when majority of our citizens are becoming oblivious of Nigeria’s leadership responsibility to Africa and the black race, it becomes very important that we bring to the consciousness of our citizens, the responsibility we owe to Africa and the black race, while reaffirming our position as the undisputable leader of the African continent.

Informed minds know that it is an incontrovertible fact that providence has assigned the Nigerian nation the dual responsibilities of being the hope of Africa and the pride of the black race, but fate has, through chequered historical evolution, denied majority of Nigerian citizens the knowledge of this sacred mission. Thus, we find a broad section of our citizens, from the elite to the mases, striving to pilot the affairs of a nation whose manifest destiny they do not know. But even though the Manifest Destiny of the Nigerian nation is not yet known to majority of our citizens, it is, nonetheless, a definite fact. It is a fact that is founded on the understanding that the cause of Nigeria is indeed the cause of Africa and by extension, the cause of the entire black race. This is particularly true when one considers the positioning of Nigeria in African and global context.

To begin with, Nigeria has the rare privilege of being, not just the most populous black nation in the world, we are, amongst the few, if not the only black nation in the world, that has not been negatively influenced by the myth of white supremacy—a psychological affront that undermines the growth of most African nations. A careful observation of the psyche of the Nigerian citizen reveals the fact that he has a distinguishing feature that sets him apart from other black Africans. The major part of that distinguishing feature is the indomitable Nigerian spirit that never bows to the myth of white supremacy. The manifestation of this spirit is not only seen in the resilience nature of Nigerians, it is also visible in the audacity of faith which makes Nigerians to always believe that the future holds a better promise than the past, —an audacity of faith that many foreign observers have come to define as “believing in hope, even against hope.”

But our hope is never superficial. It is founded on our understanding of the spiritual attributes of man; the capacity to believe in unseen realities. We believe, not because we are not aware of our current challenges. We believe, because we know that hope is action, and faith is the greatest creative force in the world. It is this faith that has kept us as one united nation, irrespective of our diversity and historical challenges. It is this faith in ourselves that has distinguished us from many other black Africans, even from the beginning of our nationhood.

Speaking during his inaugural address as the Governor General of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe opined that “the challenge of Nigeria as a free state in central Africa is the need to revive the stature of man in Africa and restore the dignity of black man in the world. Nigerians believe passionately in fundamental human rights. We regard all races of the human family as equal. Under no circumstance shall we accept the idea that the black race is inferior to any other race.” This statement encapsulates the central mission of the Nigerian nation, and that was what Shettima was striving to bring to our national consciousness through his speech in Akwa Ibom state.

And Shettima is not just a lone voice, crying in the wilderness, he was saying the same truth Nelson Mandela once stated when he observed that “the world will never respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect. The black people of the world are looking up to Nigeria to become a symbol of pride and confidence.” He admonished us to ensure that “every Nigerian citizen is made to understand this great responsibility.” That is —exactly— what Shettima is striving to do.

To better appreciate the significance of Shettima’s words, one has to consider the fact that a nation may be endowed with extra-ordinary individual great minds, but such a nation may not make any significant progress, both on the local and the global stage, until there is unity of purpose, anchored on a shared national mission which is clearly communicated to all the citizenry, to the point that it becomes an ideological movement within the nation. It is at that point when the nation achieves unity of purpose, that she begins to enjoy the benefit of maximum human and material resources utilization, which is the foundation of the greatness of nations.

As a concerned public intellectual, I have always advocated that the easiest way for us to achieve national cohesion is to have a clearly defined and effectively communicated central mission, which can serve as an ideological foundation for the maximization of the vast potentials of the Nigerian nation. That defined national purpose will help to address the challenge of extreme individualism which we now see within our nation and make us a people, united in purpose. It is at that point that the sum of our national output will begin to reflect our great individual capacities. The challenge of leadership, at this stage of our national evolution, is, therefore, to help the Nigerian citizen, not only to understand Nigeria’s leadership responsibility to Africa and the black race, but the role each citizen must play towards the fulfilment of that promise.

Frantz Fanon reminds us that “each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfil it or betray it.'' Shettima’s clarion call was simply an attempt to bring to our national consciousness, the central mission of the Nigerian nation. It is, therefore, our collective responsibility to heed to his call towards the fulfilment of our nation’s manifest destiny. He deserves our commendation for his courage to tell us the truth.