Conviction of EFCC President, Bawa, for contempt: An anti-climax!
It was reported yesterday that the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Maitama, Abuja, convicted the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, for contempt of court, because the EFCC refused to comply with a previous court order. The report quotes High Court Judge, Honorable Justice Chizoba Oji, as saying that "the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is in disregard of the orders of this Honorable Court made on 21 November 2018 ordering the Commission of Abuja Economic and Financial Crimes to return to the plaintiff his Range Rover (super charge) and the sum of N40,000,000.00 (Forty Million Naira) Having willfully continued to disobey the order of this court, he should be incarcerated in the Kuje Correctional Center for his disobedience and continued disobedience of said court order issued on November 21, 2018, until he is purged of contempt.
At the time of going to press, the EFCC President had not yet visited the Kuje Correctional Centre. What is most disturbing is that the order forcing the EFCC to return the said items was issued in 2018. Four years later, the EFCC has still ignored the Court. We remember we once had a so-called Super Cop whose goodwill took the laws into his own hands by indiscriminately arresting and detaining citizens. He would even have made some citizens disappear and confiscated their property. It took the United States FBI to save us from the rogue cop. Are we raising another "super cop"? Governments at all levels and their officials have a terrible penchant for disobeying court orders. For them, the courts can only bark but cannot bite. It's true. The judiciary cannot enforce its own judgments and orders. It relies on the Nigerian police, which is controlled by the executive arm of government. Leading human rights activist, Femi Falana, SAN recently did a study on the number of judgments that only the federal government has disobeyed. They met more than 2,000. It now seems that the policy of the various Nigerian governments is not to obey the judgments and orders of the courts. We have all seen the drama that unfolded when the Abuja Court of Appeal allowed NnamdiKanu's appeal and struck out the remaining charges against him. Nothing prevented him from being released from that moment on. The implication was that if he was in court when the court overturned the charge, he could have left the court directly to return home. The Federal Government of Nigeria refused to release him; and continued to detain him for over a week without any order for remand from the court.
The need for public officials and institutions to obey the laws of the land is essential if our democracy is to thrive. We cannot afford a situation where law enforcement or lawmakers are actually the offenders, the real problems. This will be a recipe for disaster and may only lead to one-way anarchy, as the people's trust in their government will be completely eroded. We don't want another #EndSars but have we learned our lessons? The Court of Appeal had the opportunity to emphasize respect for the rule of law in the case of EBONYI STATE GOVERNOR & ORS V. HON. JUSTICE ISUAMA (2003) FWLR [PT. 169] 1210 @ 1227-1228, where the Court of Appeal, while emphasizing the need for public officials to obey the law, held that: "Obedience to the rule of law by all citizens, but more particularly those who have publicly sworn to protect and preserve the constitution is a desideratum of good governance and respect for the rule of law. In a democratic society, this is supposed to be a norm; it is apostasy for the government to ignore the provisions of the law and the necessary rules laid down to regulate matters.”
The EFCC president should purge himself of contempt. Failure to do so may give the impression that the EFCC is an anarchic organization.
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anti-climaxbawaPresident
It was reported yesterday that the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Maitama, Abuja, convicted the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, for contempt of court, because the EFCC refused to comply with a previous court order. The report quotes High Court Judge, Honorable Justice Chizoba Oji, as saying that "the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is in disregard of the orders of this Honorable Court made on 21 November 2018 ordering the Commission of Abuja Economic and Financial Crimes to return to the plaintiff his Range Rover (super charge) and the sum of N40,000,000.00 (Forty Million Naira) Having willfully continued to disobey the order of this court, he should be incarcerated in the Kuje Correctional Center for his disobedience and continued disobedience of said court order issued on November 21, 2018, until he is purged of contempt.
At the time of going to press, the EFCC President had not yet visited the Kuje Correctional Centre. What is most disturbing is that the order forcing the EFCC to return the said items was issued in 2018. Four years later, the EFCC has still ignored the Court. We remember we once had a so-called Super Cop whose goodwill took the laws into his own hands by indiscriminately arresting and detaining citizens. He would even have made some citizens disappear and confiscated their property. It took the United States FBI to save us from the rogue cop. Are we raising another "super cop"? Governments at all levels and their officials have a terrible penchant for disobeying court orders. For them, the courts can only bark but cannot bite. It's true. The judiciary cannot enforce its own judgments and orders. It relies on the Nigerian police, which is controlled by the executive arm of government. Leading human rights activist, Femi Falana, SAN recently did a study on the number of judgments that only the federal government has disobeyed. They met more than 2,000. It now seems that the policy of the various Nigerian governments is not to obey the judgments and orders of the courts. We have all seen the drama that unfolded when the Abuja Court of Appeal allowed NnamdiKanu's appeal and struck out the remaining charges against him. Nothing prevented him from being released from that moment on. The implication was that if he was in court when the court overturned the charge, he could have left the court directly to return home. The Federal Government of Nigeria refused to release him; and continued to detain him for over a week without any order for remand from the court.
The need for public officials and institutions to obey the laws of the land is essential if our democracy is to thrive. We cannot afford a situation where law enforcement or lawmakers are actually the offenders, the real problems. This will be a recipe for disaster and may only lead to one-way anarchy, as the people's trust in their government will be completely eroded. We don't want another #EndSars but have we learned our lessons? The Court of Appeal had the opportunity to emphasize respect for the rule of law in the case of EBONYI STATE GOVERNOR & ORS V. HON. JUSTICE ISUAMA (2003) FWLR [PT. 169] 1210 @ 1227-1228, where the Court of Appeal, while emphasizing the need for public officials to obey the law, held that: "Obedience to the rule of law by all citizens, but more particularly those who have publicly sworn to protect and preserve the constitution is a desideratum of good governance and respect for the rule of law. In a democratic society, this is supposed to be a norm; it is apostasy for the government to ignore the provisions of the law and the necessary rules laid down to regulate matters.”
The EFCC president should purge himself of contempt. Failure to do so may give the impression that the EFCC is an anarchic organization.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Earn a guaranteed legal income daily through sport and it is paid to you in dollars. Find out how
anti-climaxbawaPresident
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