AN EGREGIOUS ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY

With the invasion of National Assembly, the Police are disturbingly becoming a veritable threat to law and order

The House of Representatives reconvened on Thursday in deference to a letter from President Goodluck Jonathan seeking an extension to the emergency rule in the North-east states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. But the situation descended into chaos when overzealous policemen barricaded the entrance of the National Assembly in the attempt to deny Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal access and tear-gassed him and other legislators, in what most Nigerians have condemned as a barbaric display of impunity. If we take the unfortunate incident in the House of Representatives with the equally shameful charade that happened in the Ekiti State House of Assembly on the same day in the context of Nigeria’s historic and contemporary experiences, we cannot but express our apprehension. The image of our federal lawmakers clambering over a fence brings to mind a similar picture of mayhem in the Western Region House of Assembly in the First Republic. Indeed, the contribution of that political crisis as one of the immediate causes of the military coup of 1966 and the remote causes of our tragic civil war should not be lost on the current political class. Therefore, the pandemonium at the National Assembly and the show of shame in Ekiti State where nine out of 26 members have constituted themselves into a “majority” must be seen by any patriotic Nigerian as an invitation to a more serious crisis that can derail our still fragile democracy. And it is our considered view that only those who are ignorant of Nigeria’s cycle of political crisis will blunder into a situation that portends grave danger for our country as the 2015 general election draws nearer. While we are appalled by what is clearly gangster behaviour by the Nigerian political class at various levels, what is particularly worrying in the National Assembly fiasco is that an institution as critical to a democracy as the police is being turned into a cynical instrument to oppress political opponents. Besides, the egregious assault on the integrity of the legislature is also making a mockery of the principle

Besides, the egregious assault on the integrity of the legislature is also making a mockery of the principle of separation of powers. This is totally unacceptable. What most of our political office holders forget is that long after the schools, hospitals and roads would have been fixed, the damage to institutions will linger

of separation of powers. This is totally unacceptable. What most of our political office holders forget is that long after the schools, hospitals and roads would have been fixed, the damage to institutions will linger. We must in this regard point to the many controversies that have trailed the new Inspector General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba. Specifically, in this vexatious issue of the National Assembly invasion, the way the NPF has exhibited its partisanship turns that vital institution into a threat not just to peace and order but to the democratic enterprise itself. We therefore demand a very transparent investigation by a credible third party not only into the appalling events of Thursday but also into why the Nigerian Police is being allowed to incrementally usurp the function of the nation’s judiciary to determine who is entitled to be in elective office in the National Assembly.

Nevertheless, we must commend the statesmanlike role of the Senate President, Senator David Mark, in diffusing the ugly situation before it could degenerate by shutting down the National Assembly. That action comes with the recognition that Tambuwal has the right to make his political choices while it is the duty of the courts to interpret the implication of such actions and those of his colleagues to determine whether he can continue as their presiding officer in the circumstance. In this context, Senator Mark has emerged as a voice of reason in a fractious and often irresponsible political environment and he deserves commendation for his timely intervention. However, the action of the police represents impunity in its extreme demonstration because the unfettered existence of the National Assembly as an expression of the collective but diverse identity of our polity is one sure guarantee that democracy could survive in Nigeria. Any institution within the executive that therefore allows itself to be manipulated into denigrating and undermining the sanctity of such independent arm of government is putting our democracy in grave danger. But it is not too late for IGP Abba and the NPF to retrace their steps, affirm their neutrality and regain public trust as a force for the public good, not as the armed wing of a political party or a tool for political victimization. Finally, the Inspector General and the Police leadership should remember that this is 2014. Had anyone been killed in the assault and tear gas of the National Assembly, this could very well become a typical case for the International Criminal Court. The police may believe it is ‘lord and master’ in Nigeria. But the world has changed and such impunity cannot stand for much longer in the eyes of the international community. A day of accountability will certainly come, sooner or later. We must therefore exercise power with care and caution under the law.