IMPUNITY IN THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Credited to: voiceofnigeria.org.ng

"A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom". -Bob Dylan.

When the inventors of democracy invented it, they did so with the principal aim of replacing despotic and authoritarian rulerships that were found dotted unfortunately at every nook and cranny of our planet earth since the medieval era.   These despots and autocrats were not answerable to anyone and not even to themselves.

Democracy at its core; is to give the law abiding citizens the freedom in pursuit of happiness within the confines of the law with responsibility attached to this very freedom that all of humanity are entitled to unimpeded.

Therefore, it is safe for one to say that freedom is not without responsibility. And anything short of this is no longer freedom but lawlessness and impunity, where anyone and everyone can wake up and do whatever in the name of freedom and this will be a total and a definite reversal to the despotic and autocratic rulerships that has been replaced decades ago, if not centuries.

One is therefore appalled at the new invention where the NASS abruptly feel that their freedom should be without responsibility. And indeed they feel that they are a government on their own and they are not accountable to anyone, not even to the very people that put them there in the first place. NASS who are supposedly the representatives of the people have turned they back on their masters (people) and the very laws they enacted themselves.

In any sane and democratic society, no person or institution has absolutely powers. As the saying goes “absolute power corrupt absolutely”. The makers and the designers of our constitution were not oblivion of this, albeit military as some may want to argue.

Therefore, the doctrines of separation of powers as enshrined in our constitution is to ensure that the three arms of government at any level has the freedom to perform their constitutionally assigned  duties without undue interference from another arm of government.  But this same freedom is not without constraints and limits. And to make sure that no arm of government becomes autocratic and unchecked. The doctrine of checks and balances is also enshrined in the same constitution; where the three arms of government have the powers to check each other with the sole purpose of keep each other in check and thereby avoiding excesses that might arise in course of performing assigned duties.

The separation of powers does not in any way preclude members of the NASS from obeying the laws of the land. And it does not in any way given a leeway to members of the NASS not to be charged to court of competent jurisdiction, where a prime facie case has been established against any of them or all of them as case may be. And this is applicable to all Nigerians of which NASS is part.

Cases abound even in advanced democracies like the US where members of congress are charge to court by the department of Justice headed by an appointee of the US president. And as recent as this June 21^st a democrat member of House of Representative in President Obama’s party, a black man like him, Mr.Chaka Fattah was convicted and will be sentence in October, 2016 and he has chosen to resign from his position. His son is already convicted. And no member of his party took placard to the street. In short members of both parties in the congress even helped to accelerate his resignation so as to avoid an embarrassing scene in the congress with the full support of his party leadership in the congress.

Unlike Nigeria; Senators Saraki and Ekwremandu would have sponsored a standby pseudo-Youth Congress in person of Imo Ugochinyere Ikenga and co. to go to any TV station available to tell Nigerians and the world on how the FG is out to carry out extrajudicial family cleansing, to oppress the opposition and to commit genocides against a particular tribe in this case, be a black man in the US would have fit their rhetoric and bigotry. And that was why Ekwremandu chose to dress in the attire he put on in court on the day of his arraignment. The attire that Senator Ekwremandu himself cannot recall the last time he put  it on, so as to incite tribal and sectional sentiments.

To these end members of the NASS and indeed every Nigerian is not above the law, as it is in other democracies, where we did a copycat of their constitution. And more so those who chose to lead us should be ready at any time to come to the court of public scrutiny. And where a prima facie case has been established against them they should honorably go to court and defend themselves, instead of playing to the gallery.

The courts are there as part of the democratic institutions where aggrieved parties can go and find justice, instead of the medieval era where the powerful ones were the law by themselves and were not accountable to no one.

Additionally, the assertion credited to the Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki that there is ‘government within government’ of the present administration lead by PMB is a case of a monkey insulting its infant that “see your face”. This unsubstantiated assertion ought to be made against the current 8^th NASS, who has been relentlessly trying to create a government within government. They never felt to be part of the present government to make it work. They have amended existing laws to water down the powers of the president more than they enacted laws that will benefit the very people that voted them. They are quick to amend laws that will protect their corrupt deals. But they shilly-shallied when it comes to any law that will ameliorate the sufferings of a common man or woman on the street.

They are quick to come together and forget their political differences on matters that affect their common pockets but they will always disagree on things that concern the poor man and woman of Nigeria.

This impunity is unacceptable and all well meaning Nigerians should as a matter of imperative; stand up against any institution including the executive, the judiciary and the legislature who feels to be above the very laws governing of our very existing.

GOD Bless Nigeria.

Emmanuel I. Sule writes from Lagos Nigeria.
you can contact him on: www.julijacks.blogspot.com.ng