From GODDY OSUJI, Enugu
Saturday, February 10, 2007
As the political battle between President Olusegun Obasanjo and his deputy, Atiku Abubakar rages on, the Chairman Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Enugu State branch, Mr. Ikeazor Akaraiwe, has blamed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the unending crisis.
But even as he condemned the declaration of the Vice President’s office vacant, Ikeazor argued that Atiku should have followed the parh of honour by tendering his resignation letter "PDP actually is the cause of the problem because when it gained from the governor of Jigawa state, they (PDP) said nothing and when the governor of Sokoto state left ANPP their rival, to join DPP they said nothing, they were quite happy that the ranks of their opponent is being depleted but now that their own man is doing it, they reacted".
Akaraiwe however said that for the fact that PDP did not speak up does not mean "we ought to condone something wrong".
In an exclusive interview with Saturday Sun in Enugu, the NBA branch chairman faulted the Vice President, pointing out that the situation "is that the Vice President has declared intention to contest the office of the president under the platform of AC whereas he is the vice president under the platform of PDP, by doing that, legally in my view, the purpose of section 243 of the Nigerian constitution, is that he can no longer remain the vice president of Nigeria on the platform of PDP.
But can the president sack him, which is another issue. The issue is that does he remain the vice president of Nigeria having left the party by which he got to office? In my view he cannot, the honourable thing if he has honour, would have been to resign. But can the President sack him or declare his office vacant, in my view the constitutionality of the alleged vacation of the Vice President is in doubt, the president cannot, he should go to court to ask the court to interpret the constitution vis a vis what the VP has done or go to the National Assembly to impeach him. All I am saying affects all the others who defected and still retain their offices. You cannot come to office on the platform of party A and leave the office to contest another office on the platform of another political party and remain in office".
A way out of the logjam
In my view, Atiku Abubakar must maintain honour. From the moment he began to find it impossible to work with the president, making critical statements against government policies he is part of, he ought to have resigned. The way out of this logjam is for the President to go to court for the interpretation of the constitution if he (Atiku) has the right to still remain in office having declared for another political party’.
Instead of his (Obasanjo) aides heating up the polity, they should respect the judiciary and the sensibility of Nigerians".
Peter Obi’s impeachment
Akaraiwe disagreed with the comments of the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN) over the impeachment of Peter Obi and the Appeal Court judgment where he (Ojo) said that Gov. Etiaba should remain in office contrary to the court order until the appeal is resolved. He argued, "The moment that court gave an order that Obi should go back to office, Mrs. Etiaba should have toed the pah of honour and step down immediately".
What is happening now is that the judiciary is beingridiculed. It is for the loser in that case that’s supposed to apply for a stay of execution and if court grants that, then she can remain in office. But I am not aware that anybody has done that. What Ojo has said in my view is his own opinion and for Etiaba to remain in office on the basis of that statement is unacceptable. The statement does not carry the force of law", he contended.
On the violation of court orders by governments, the NBA chairman frowned at government continuous deprecation and the irresponsible habit of disobedience to court orders and "we say it is wrong and will continue to condemn it and the PDPbeing the party in control of federal and most states have acted reprehensibly and irresponsibly and the bar will not continue to sit idly while court orders are disobeyed. Last time we went on strike for two days but now we will do more than strike. The issue will be tabled before the NEC in Owerri.
The Enugu State NBA chairman commended the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC) for suspending the judges that handled the impeachment of Govs. Ladoja and Obi and called for their immediate dismissal as a way of putting away these reprehensive behavior beyond that, he expressed worry over his colleagues, who are Attorney Generals who collaborate with governments and advised them to throw in the towel in such situation.
But can the president sack him, which is another issue. The issue is that does he remain the vice president of Nigeria having left the party by which he got to office? In my view he cannot, the honourable thing if he has honour, would have been to resign. But can the President sack him or declare his office vacant, in my view the constitutionality of the alleged vacation of the Vice President is in doubt, the president cannot, he should go to court to ask the court to interpret the constitution vis a vis what the VP has done or go to the National Assembly to impeach him. All I am saying affects all the others who defected and still retain their offices. You cannot come to office on the platform of party A and leave the office to contest another office on the platform of another political party and remain in office".
A way out of the logjam
In my view, Atiku Abubakar must maintain honour. From the moment he began to find it impossible to work with the president, making critical statements against government policies he is part of, he ought to have resigned. The way out of this logjam is for the President to go to court for the interpretation of the constitution if he (Atiku) has the right to still remain in office having declared for another political party’.
Instead of his (Obasanjo) aides heating up the polity, they should respect the judiciary and the sensibility of Nigerians".
Peter Obi’s impeachment
Akaraiwe disagreed with the comments of the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN) over the impeachment of Peter Obi and the Appeal Court judgment where he (Ojo) said that Gov. Etiaba should remain in office contrary to the court order until the appeal is resolved. He argued, "The moment that court gave an order that Obi should go back to office, Mrs. Etiaba should have toed the pah of honour and step down immediately".
What is happening now is that the judiciary is beingridiculed. It is for the loser in that case that’s supposed to apply for a stay of execution and if court grants that, then she can remain in office. But I am not aware that anybody has done that. What Ojo has said in my view is his own opinion and for Etiaba to remain in office on the basis of that statement is unacceptable. The statement does not carry the force of law", he contended.
On the violation of court orders by governments, the NBA chairman frowned at government continuous deprecation and the irresponsible habit of disobedience to court orders and "we say it is wrong and will continue to condemn it and the PDPbeing the party in control of federal and most states have acted reprehensibly and irresponsibly and the bar will not continue to sit idly while court orders are disobeyed. Last time we went on strike for two days but now we will do more than strike. The issue will be tabled before the NEC in Owerri.
The Enugu State NBA chairman commended the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC) for suspending the judges that handled the impeachment of Govs. Ladoja and Obi and called for their immediate dismissal as a way of putting away these reprehensive behavior beyond that, he expressed worry over his colleagues, who are Attorney Generals who collaborate with governments and advised them to throw in the towel in such situation.
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