TROUBLED RIVERS: THE SUPREME COURT IS NOT TO BLAME

ONWUASOANYA FCC JONES

Politicians are like bad spouses, they make their relationships go ugly, then, turn around to blame other people.

I have had cause to argue with many of my friends over the situation in Rivers State and I am almost always the lone voice when I tell them that the Supreme Court’s ruling in Rivers State cannot be faulted by law. Maybe, we can have some problems with the public interest aspect of the ruling, but it would have been a grave miscarriage of justice to consider the interest of what we assume is the majority by ruling otherwise in the Rivers crisis.

For the avoidance of doubts, I have the highest sympathy for Governor Sim. If not for anything else, I feel that it is wrong for someone else to be a governor while another person wields the powers that the governor is supposed to wield. It doesn’t matter where someone was picked from, and it doesn’t matter the agreement reached in someone’s private bedroom before assisting him to become governor. The most important covenants the governor must keep are the ones he entered with God and the people. Former governor Wike has served his own time as governor, and even though there are many people who helped him to that seat, he didn’t allow anyone to dictate for him how to run the State within the period he held sway.

However, in looking dispassionately at the rulings of the Supreme Court, that hallowed chamber cannot be faulted on the basis of law. They got every decision on the issues, right, within the ambit of law. Let us look at some of those issues and rulings again;

1. The Supreme Court restored the rights and privileges of the 27 House of Assembly members who had defected from the PDP to APC. We must recall that the PDP which was supposed to stand solidly behind Fubara to prosecute this case against the defected members were not very supportive, but rather acted the scripts of Wike at the detriment of the Party’s interest. The Supreme Court was correct in their logic that Governor Fubara does not have the right to interfere with the activities of a co-equal arm of government, the legislature. The only institutions empowered by the Constitution to declare the seats of legislators vacant are a properly constituted legislature and the courts. If Governor Fubara had tarried a little and got a judicial pronouncement declaring these seats vacant, the outcome of this case might have been different. Resort to self-help can be injurious and that’s exactly what the governor and his allies did.
2. The Supreme Court ordered for a freeze to allocations accruing to Rivers State “until the budget has been presented to the full house”. This is considered an overkill by my fellow sympathizers of Governor Fubara. They are worried that the governor would not be able to function without having access to funds. My emotions would have wished otherwise, but the reality is that the judgement restoring the rights and privileges of the 27 lawmakers would have been more or less, an academic pronouncement without the freeze on Rivers allocation. It is the easiest way to ensure adherence to the ruling of the court in that matter.
3. The Nullification of LGA election. We are all aware that there were various court pronouncements that were aimed at frustrating the election before it eventually held. It wasn’t the Supreme Court’s fault that politicians are impatient and selfish. There was no reason for the pro-Wike group to have attempted foisting their stooges on the LGA administration perpetually. Unfortunately, lower courts have some contentious orders that discredited the conduct of the election. It is encouraging to observe that the governor is presently taking steps to correct the errors of the past and conduct a less contentious LGA election.
4. The Affidavit by the 27 Lawmakers Affirming their Defection to APC. This is one area of convergence of many people I have discussed this matter with. They argue that the affidavit by these 27 lawmakers should have put a nail on their political coffins. This is correct, but we must understand that this case is still at the high court and was yet to get to the Supreme Court before they gave their ruling. The Supreme Court does not operate on hearsay or emotions, they base their judgement on raw facts and legal arguments, and in some cases, public interest.

Apparently, the only way the Supreme Court would have resolved this matter to the satisfaction of those of us who are sympathetic to Fubara was by sacking the 27 lawmakers. Unfortunately, this would have set a very dangerous precedent for our democracy. It would have seriously eroded the principle of Separation of Powers and turned the President and governors to despots. The legislature would have been rendered redundant.

Unfortunately, the 27 lawmakers are still acting like rascals. They are obviously not interested in peace or the sustenance of democracy, hence, their unguarded, insulting and reckless pronouncements against the Rivers Chief Executive. I would advise them to consider the interest of Rivers State paramount and work respectfully with the governor to stabilise the State and preserve the interests of the ordinary people of Rivers State. Governor Fubara on his part must not get tired of working for peace.

May good judgement prevail!