“The most dangerous of all falsehoods is a slightly distorted truth.”? Georg Christoph Lichtenberg.
“I would rather be a devil in alliance with truth, than an angel in alliance with falsehood.”? Ludwig Feuerbach..
The politico-historiography of Nigeria is unravelling magnifying a seismic paradigm shift reflecting some semblance of sanity in our legal-polity and I am happy to be an observer as events episodically unravel.
My optimism is further rekindled with the arraignment of @Bukolasaraki before a tribunal of competent jurisdiction on criminal charges bordering on illegitimate handling as a public office holder, putting personal interest above public interest, lying under oath (asset declaration), presentation of falsehood or deception that is contrary to public interest at the code of conduct tribunal.
The battle lines have been redrawn spatio-temporally and legally speaking to re-write the narratives of our potentially great country with the start of the trial of @Bukolasaraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, this has given more credence to the anti-corruption stand that the administration of @mbuhari is propagating.
If we are going to win the war on corruption we must start from the national assembly, this is vividly so because of the status and crookedness character wise of those who are members of the legislative chambers and @Bukolasaraki represents or symbolises the decadence and odoriferous saga cum ”gargantua gaga,” of corruption (Apologies to Patrick Obahiagbon).
Thorough cleansing of the headship of the national assembly as the starting point in putting sanity into the various organs of government would engender goodwill amongst the populace coupled with the domino effect rippling through the members of the national assembly consciousness creating an atmosphere wherein a message of re-orientation and meta-analytic comprehension re-enforce that the game is over and not business as usual anymore thereby extending an episodic repetitive neurocranium sensory input into their medulla oblongata .
It is only then we shall have legislators/legislations that address the fundamental needs of the people rather than what we presently endure, these self serving marauding legislators with an antecedence riddled with legislative brigandage without any developmental agenda for the nation but self-enrichment.
This brings me to the discourse in the news recently concerning @Bukolasaraki trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal with legal fireworks exploding between Rotimi Jacobs and Agabi about whether the accused should have been invited to either admit or deny the charges. I want to say here vehemently that there is nowhere in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended with such requirement.
There might be different interpretation, definition, meaning to the above statement. I am not denying that others might hold a different opinion, since meaning is neither black nor white, but the evidence to support my claim is the extant law and the foundation of Nigeria legal instrumentarium the Constitution.
These are the provisions of the Constitution on the subject matter:
Third Schedule 1999 Constitution of Nigeria
Part I
Federal Executive Bodies
(Established by Section 153)
A – Code of Conduct Bureau
- The Code of Conduct Bureau shall comprise the following members:
(a) a Chairman; and
(b) nine other members, each of whom, at the time of appointment, shall not be less than fifty years of age and subject to the provisions of section 157 of this Constitution shall vacate his office on attaining the age of seventy years.
- The Bureau shall establish such offices in each state of the Federation as it may require for the discharge of its functions under this Constitution.
- The Bureau shall have power to:
(a) receive declarations by public officers made under paragraph 12 of Part I of the Fifth Schedule to this Constitution;
(b) examine the declarations in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct or any law;
(c) retain custody of such declarations and make them available for inspection by any citizen of Nigeria on such terms and conditions as the National Assembly may prescribe;
(d) ensure compliance with and, where appropriate, enforce the provisions of the Code of Conduct of any law relating thereto;
(e) receive complaints about non-compliance with or breach of the provisions of the Code of Conduct or any law in relation thereto, investigate the complaint and, where appropriate, refer such matters to the Code of Conduct Tribunal;
(f) appoint, promote, dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over the staff of the Codes of Conduct Bureau in accordance with the provisions of an Act of the National Assembly enacted in that behalf; and
(g) carry out such other functions as may be conferred upon it by the National Assembly.
The terms and conditions of service of the staff of the Code of Conduct Bureau shall be the same as those provided for public officers in the civil service of the Federation.
Agabi said “He has not been invited; he should be invited like Tinubu. He is the Senate President of this country. We have not been invited; it is not discriminatory”. -http://abusidiqu.com
”But while countering the argument, Jacobs told the Tribunal that the CCB did not need to invite the defendants to make any clarification on the discrepancies in his assets because section 3, part one of the third schedule of the 1999 Constitution has removed such conditions”. -http://abusidiqu.com
Rotimi Jacobs is on point here because he is amplifying the position of the law as stated in the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Agabi here is misleading the tribunal and he erred in law with his reference to the 1979 Constitution and Tinubu’s case because that provision has been superseded by the 1999 Constitution as amended therefore @Bukolasaraki case is being prosecuted predicated on the extant law. Agabi is being legally mischievous by employing delay tactics.
“Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.”? Blaise Pascal.
The charges in question are not statute barred and the question of jurisdiction has been settled by the Supreme Court.
This case is related to falsehood in asset declaration form or lying under oath. This is never about interpretation rather it is contingent on empirical verification and facts as presented by @Bukolasaraki and any citizen of Nigeria can file complaints about public official non-compliance with or breach of the provisions of the Code of Conduct or any law in relation thereto, and the Code of Conduct Bureau must investigate the complaints and, where appropriate, refer such matters to the Code of Conduct Tribunal .
It is always difficult to accept change and anti-corruption crusade is no exception. Change is a choice an existential choice that we must make to advance our nation, but those against change are the purveyors of black or white reasoning, using deception and crying wolf where there is none, there argument is based on fuzzy logic with every attempt made to deny the complexity of their situation. @Bukolasaraki, he is the creator of the quagmire he found himself.
“Like crying wolf, if you keep looking for sympathy as a justification for your actions, you will someday be left standing alone when you really need help.”? Criss Jami, Killosophy
The show of shame is now in the Theater Tuschinski in premiere.
OTUNBA ADE ILEMOBADEis a philosopher
Twitter: @pearl2prince
Editor: Opinion expressed on this page are strictly those of the author
