LAW Both Executive and Legislature wield federal powers – Okoye
Festus Okoye is a constitutional lawyer and chairman of the NBA Election Monitoring Group. In this interview, he speaks on ethical issues in the legal profession, Ibrahim Magu confirmation and amnesty for looters among others. Excerpts:
The NBA just inaugurated some committees. What is the prospect of these committees?
Most of the committees inaugurated are very strategic and important committees of the Bar Association. One, we have the Legislative Working Group of the NBA, which deals with bills that are pending in the National Assembly and state assemblies because NBA as the foremost professional body, must have input into legislation and the legislative process.
We also have the AntiCorruption Committee of the association, which was one of the promises the NBA president made that he is going to key into the fight against corruption by this administration. We also have the Welfare Committee and the NBA Election Group, which I head. It is a key arm of the association’s public interest activities. This is because we believe that democracy in Nigeria cannot thrive and survive if we do not have a clean electoral process. So to that extent we now have the NBA Election Working Group with the mandate to observe state assembly, National Assembly, governorship elections and presidential elections. So we are going to work out the modalities on how to go about our activities. Now our main interest will be the standalone governorship election in Anambra State.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria and the NBA President have recently criticised the unethical conducts of some lawyers. Is there anything that can be done to remedy these conducts?
The issue of reforming the judiciary, the criminal justice system, and making our members observe the ethics of the profession, is a huge agenda of this present administration. To that extent the president of the NBA has different committees. The NBA Regulation Committee has submitted its report and the Bar Association as an entity is studying that report. The president of the association has also set up other committees to look into our participation in the National Judicial Council, and all the other facets of the judiciary.
There is an ongoing faceoff between the Executive and the Legislature over the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as EFCC chairman. What would you suggest as a way out?
In every democracy there must always be some friction, misunderstanding and sometimes confusion between the powers of the Executive and the Legislature. The only thing is that both of them must understand and appreciate that they wield the powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The constitution makes their functions separate and at the same time symbiotic. It is symbiotic in the sense that all of them must work for the good of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Separate in the sense that the powers of the different organs have been delineated by the constitution.
I think that any time there is misunderstanding or the two organs cannot understand the parameters or limits of their powers, the constitution has created a different organ to interpret and explain and that is the Judiciary.
So if there is any issue relating to the constitutional powers of the National Assembly to confirm or not to confirm certain categories of public officers, the best, reasonable, rational and constitutional thing to do under the circumstance, is to submit such a question to the Judiciary for interpretation and guidance. If we do that some of this bad blood will not exist.
The National Assembly has begun hearing on a bill to for amnesty for looters, which they say is to quickly recover funds badly needed by the country. Do you support this?
I think one of the challenges of this administration is its inability to articulate an anticorruption strategy. I believe that an anti-corruption strategy must include amnesty for those who are ready to return their looted funds without stressing the country on the judicial process. There is no two ways about it.
I also believe that for us to fight corruption successfully we must get to the root of the corruption in which ways we must plug all the loopholes through which leakages occur and a strategy of prosecuting corruption. A situation where we do shoddy investigation and prosecution and allow people who have stolen our commonwealth to go scot-free is not good for our criminal justice system, and criminal process and procedure. So I think it is not too late for the regime to articulate an anticorruption strategy and pursue it with single mindedness.