LAW Buhari’s deployment of troops to The Gambia in order - Ekim
Victor Abasiakan-Ekim is an Abuja-based legal practitioner. He is also a disputed chairman of the NBA, Abuja Chapter. In this interview, he says President Muhammadu Buhari did not breach the constitution by not seeking the approval of the Senate to deploy troops to The Gambia. He also speaks on the independence of the judiciary and others. Excerpts:
The Senate has raised objections on President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged deployment of troops to The Gambia. How do you see this in light of separation of powers?
We should see Nigeria as a common project and not a basis for competition. That is why we have three arms of government. The legislature and judiciary should each remain within the confines of its own role in seeing the federal structure run its course. Complaining about the president deploying troops to The Gambia I think for now is making trouble out of nothing. The president has powers to deploy troops not beyond seven days. Thereafter he will notify the National Assembly and seek their approval. If within seven days, as in this case, the conflict is resolved, and the troops return, the president has done no wrong. But if they had to stay there beyond seven days, the president needs to go to the National Assembly and say ‘Well I deployed the troops believing they will stay there for not more than seven days and return but the crisis has escalated and I now need your approval.’ So I don’t see any crisis brewing or why we should begin splitting hairs that the president deployed troops without approval from the National Assembly.
There were also objections by the Senate on the ban on vehicle importation through the land borders as well as the diversion of flights from Abuja Airport to Kaduna?
I think it is neither here nor there. When the president needs to consult the National Assembly he should do so. And if they also feel the president has done something wrong, they should also address the issue. But we do not need to overheat the polity by trading blames in the media.
On the airport closure, I think the Nigeria Society of Engineers has said that the repairs can be done without having to shut down the economy of Abuja, because that is what it means in terms of government businesses, and the diplomatic community. And if you are operating from Kaduna, you have to provide logistics and security. I don’t know if Kaduna can actually take international flights. By and large, they are the ones saddled with the responsibility; whatever they say we live with it. They are talking about safety and if anything goes wrong, they are the ones to be held responsible.
There has been a lot of uproar over the mistaken bombing of an IDP camp by the Nigerian Air Force resulting in some deaths and injuries. What should be done now?
These are professional issues. But it is sad; we are talking about human lives. You never can tell if a future president of Nigeria could have been in that camp. We are told that a sitting president of an African country was once in a refugee camp when such incident happened. But in war these things are bound to happen. We have also heard that the United States had bombed humanitarian positions in error. These are machines operated by humans. There could be misinformation here and there, and error of technical assessment etc. The Nigerian Air Force has set up a panel to investigate the incident. I think we should allow it to come up with a report of what happened and apportion blames where they have to. But to accuse the Air force of deliberate cleansing of the IDPs as we hear will not be doing justice to these men who have laboured to bring peace to that troubled region. It is really unfortunate but let us come together as a country and move forward.
Could the victims be entitled to compensation?
Certainly, some have lost limbs and families have lost loved ones. So they are entitled to compensation. They are citizens of this country. What dislodged them from their original settlements was not their own making. And government owes them a duty to provide them with temporary accommodation and feeding. We are not doing them a favour.
The news came out that federal judges were not paid their salaries in December, 2016 and January. Where is the autonomy of the judiciary?
The autonomy is on paper and not in practice. It is unfortunate that you put a man to sit on the bench with the power to dispense justice, including taking life, and you deprive him of the means of survival. That will be the height of wickedness. You think one or two will not abuse that power? When we talk about a corrupt judiciary, we must ensure we lay the structures, that we do not develop or encourage corruption. When we talk about independent judiciary, it means that their entitlements should be on first line charge from the Federation Account, so they are not answerable to anyone. What will end up happening is that more corrupt judges will be created by the system.
In the past, African judges used to draw the judiciary from Nigeria. We have had a couple of Nigerian judges as Chief Judges in various countries in Africa. In fact the crisis in Gambia could not be resolved because of the Nigerian Justice of the Gambian Supreme Court who declined going there to support illegality. That shows you the quality of Nigerian justices. When you begin to deprive them of resources of survival, you kill productivity and zeal. We need to empower our judiciary.
Also, a crisis is brewing in the Nigerian judiciary. We have an Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria and Mr President has not told us why he has not confirmed him. The power of appointment lies with the NJC and the president is to confirm.