Legal luminary Gani Fawehinmi wrote a letter from London to express his views about the judgement of the Appeal court which favours the embattled VP. I think we should all give a critical analysis to the issues Gani raised in his letter.

http://odili.net/news/source/2007/feb/23/20.html

Your thread title reads:

Fawehinmi Against Court Of Appeal On Atiku

And the content of your thread suggests otherwise.

Clarification
On arrival in London for a medical check up few days ago, Fawehinmi said he was completely against the Court of Appeal ruling in favor of Atiku. He said, Atiku must resign if he is no longer a member of the ruling party and if he no longer accept the policies of the FG.

I will provide the URL link of his statement once I can locate it.

Chief Gani Fawehinmi' Statement:

Also reacting to the Court of Appeal's decision, Lagos lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), faulted it, saying:

"The February 20, Court of Appeal unanimously decided that Alhaji Abubakar remains in his office as the nation's Vice President despite the fact that he had joined another political party and has become the Presidential candidate of that party, the Action Congress.

"I completely disagree with that decision which I consider to be constitutionally wrong, illegally untenable, technically illogical and politically dangerous for the sustenance of the nation's peace, order and good government.

Read More: http://allafrica.com/stories/200702230020.html

Verdicts are arrived at by Judges based on what the law says and not what it ought to be. Gani of all people should know this. The judges made it clear that Atiku's allegiance is to the people/constitution of FRN and not to party or Obasanjo and vice versa.

On the question that Gani raised regarding the death of a president with a VP from a different party, who then goes ahead to appoint a vice from his new party on becomming the new president. Nigerians do not care which party the president comes from as long as he works for them and with their interests at heart. In any case, we have the national assembly to check and ballance his actions while in office.

While it may be morally wrong for Atiku to remain in a govt he castigates, it makes sense that he becomes the "enemy from within" to escape the vindictive hands of Obj.

Atiku is corrupt in my opinion, but his recalcitrance to bowing to Obj's tyranny has thrown up some issues which are better dealt with now than in the future. I stand with him in his fight for democracy and against evil. Iron sharpens iron.

Hopefully we will get a president that will bring both men to justice when the time comes.

OBJ is corrupt, no doubt about it. Atiku is one of the corrupt machines, no doubt too.

The best thing for Atiku to do to prove his innocence is to purge himself from OBJ and the FG.

Remaining in government just goes to show that he want to continue being part of the corruption machine.

Atiku has long left the VP post, but his dilemma is the immunity and Ribadu's threat.

It's a no-win situation for Atiku. Staying as VP makes him look even more like a rogue.

Of course Obj is hanging over Atiku like the sword of damocles barring his immunity. They both need an impartial judge and Atiku wont be on equal footing as Obj if he should give his shield to Obj. Article 6 of the Human Right laws guarantees everyone's right to a fair trial. Atiku has only got a couple of weeks to enjoy his immunity and if we can wait endlessly to bring other thieves to book, surely we can wait a few weeks to bring Atiku to justice.

Obasanjo is corruption itself and is in no position to determine who is corrupt and who is not. EFCC should be independent of anybody especially the presidency. The act establishing EFCC should be reviewed with commitees in the Senate and House or a Code of Conduct Bureau to monitor their perfomance. All indicted people should ultimately end up in courts where the burden of proof should rest on the EFCC to get their conviction. Indictments are only accusations and are not enough to assume that someone is guilty. Only a court can make that pronouncement as guaranteed by human right laws.

Hey Dude,

Atiku doesn't want to leave because OBJ would seize d opportunity to arrest & joepardize his presidential aspirations. Ur position that he remains there to steal is far from d truth.We all know he's been sidelined from the Presidency.

The only thing he's holding to is the Immunity, which protects him from OBJ's desperation.

Who really cares if Atiku remains or vacates the VP post. It's just a matter of days, the post will change hands and his immunity will end. He would live to regret what will befall him as Ribadu's net are spread out to catch him once the immunity expires.

Atike can as well suck my D***K

I got more important things to do.

@ShutMouth,

Omo u never change.U just hate this guy. U dont even care if there OBJ could be worse than he is. U just hate Him.

I carry hand for u.

Atiku's relationship with the President or he survives on his immunity is his problem. On issues of national concern the constitution must be applied to the letter. We can not have a situation where when it favours Atiku we do what the constitution says but when its not in his favour we circumvent the constitution or re-interprete it to suit him.

People have to stop abusing the constitution merely because they hate Obasanjo, the rule of law does not work that way. There is no justification whatsoever on that ruling by the appeal court. Instead of the Judge addressing whether the constitution permits him to be in another party and yet remain VP he is busy telling us the President can not remove his VP even when at the time of passing that Judgement and till date Atiku is still the VP.

We now have a situation where court verdicts are passed based on sentiments and gossips rather than the provision of the rule of Law.

What r u talking about.

Have u read the reports of the Judgement because it seems to me u don't get it.

The APPEAL court UNANIMOUSLY judged that the VP does not OWE loyalty to the PRESIDENT NOR PDP BUT TO THE CONSTITUTION.Kajiko. Thus, the President has no right to declare his position Vacant, the one who can remove him from that position is the LEGISLATURE. How clear and non sentimental could that be?

I don't know what you are going on about, I am telling you I don't agree with that court ruling.

The question is what do we vote for during election in Nigeria, is it party or individuals If its individuals then the post of VP should be voted for differently from the post of President. But for now what we vote for is Party and thus the court Judgement that the VP has no allegiance to his party is totally wrong and I think the Judges in question should be ashamed of themselves.

Take UK for Example, the British people voted Labour Party in the last election because of their policies. Such that Now that the labour Party thinks they want a new party leader it then means by default that Blair will have to stand down as prime Minister, he can not say that after the British people voted me in I have no allegiance with the party anymore if you don't want me take your labour party leadership while I go to another party to continue as prime minister. The new Labour party leader Maybe Gordon Brown or whoever will become PM by default until the next general election where the British people will now have a choice to vote out labour if they like.

You know what/I think those judges delivered that judgement through there pockets and they should all be ashamed of themselves. Because I dont understand how it is obvious that during elections we vote parties but yet politicians dont have allegiance to their party. This judgement will only aid the proliferation of more social clubs, in the name of parties, without ethics, values or morals. The judgement is both an assualt on contitutional democracy and party politics and I hope the supreme court nullifies it.

the President has no right to declare his position Vacant, the one who can remove him from that position is the LEGISLATURE.

In Nigeria, the VP post is not a selective position but an electable position, so I agree that only the Parliament can impeach a VP.

However, there seems to be some areas in the constitution that allows the President to fire the VP.

In my view, those who sat down and wrote the Nigerian constitution must be drunk or mad.

There are so many inconsistencies.

For example, how could you give parliament the right to create a body like EFCC and afterward subject that body to the exclusive control of the Presidency who can fire the EFCC staff at will.

Thank God, the senate is currently trying to resolve that and will do so by Wednesday.

I want EFCC and Ribadu's work to be independent not under the control of OBJ.

@McKren

Not an Expert in d Nigerian Contitution.

Nonethless u should bear in Mind the System used in the UK is Quite differrent from that used in Nigeria.

Also , regardless of who it is you vote for, the elected President and Vice president swear allegiance to the Nigerian Constitution thus there loyalty is to Constitution.

Your position that the Court ruling is biased cant be but far from the truth, various court rulings in the past one year has shown that Court might as well be the only arm of the federal System confronting fearlessly the presidency.

You shoud google on the past court ruling and OBJ abuse of such rulings Peter Obi (Anambra) Saga,The lagos State vs FG , Aregbesols vs Nigerian Police etc.There are lots more, i can't remember them all.

Cheers.

I want EFCC and Ribadu's work to be independent not under the control of OBJ

Hip Hip Hip, Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!! .

Apparently u are not that different from us after all.

Thats the Spirit.

Naija4Life.

Cheers.

Your position that the Court ruling is biased can't be but far from the truth,  various court rulings in the past one year has shown that  Court might as well be the only arm of the federal System  confronting fearlessly the presidency.

That is the sentiment I don't like. You can not assume that as soon as a court Judgement is against the Presidency it is fair.

Tell me what Atiku is doing as VP, what VP of the world openly attacks a Government's security policy he is part of. Telling the whole world that $2b is about to be spent on importation of amunition rather than development, do you how much threat that statement is to national security and you think such a man should be taken seriously . If our courts and legislature are fair is'nt it about time to show the VP out of office if he is not honourable enough to resign Why must everyother person in this country support illegality just to champion an anti-obasanjo campaign.

I don't know what you think, but I think the future of Nigeria and its democracy is more important than the ambition of one man. Come May 29th both Atiku and OBJ should leave us alone let someone else try. As far as I am concerned Atiku is the worst mistake Nigeria will ever make.

Apparently u are not that different from us after all.

Yes, my love, I am here to speak and support the truth.

Tell me what Atiku is doing as VP, what VP of the world openly attacks a Government's security policy he is part of.

This is the area of Atiku I detest. Let him quit the Govt so that we can believe his many utterances. He is not just making a mockery of himself and the Presidency but a complete mockery of us all Nigerians.

He seems to dwell on the funny adage that says: "You can't beat them, join them".

McKren,
Fearlessly confronting the president here means confronting the president's dominating actions. I am not against the presidency but the actions it's been doing lately.

Why don't u assess the various judgments and see 4 yourself which was correct or not and who ignored the ruling.

Remember the constitution Spells out specific responsibilites for each arm of the government and they all have to respect one another.

I beg to disagree with u on my being sentimental. Any objective viewer of recent happenings in Nigeria woul take similar positions to mine,

Ibi like say una no get the story sha.

If it were me o, i would probably have considered resigning. but assessing the situation @ hand, atiku isnt too wrong refusing to resign his position. I have said in other postings that this is the only grace he's enjoying. OBJ's recent speeches also indicates this, OBJ thinking the appeal court ruling would be favourable had said shortly before the ruling that "Atiku would be arrested and charged to court once the appeal court made it's Judgment".

U see, in a well structured democracy, resigning would have been good and honourable but in a situation line ours where the system gives the president too much power, Atiku is as good as finished if he resigns before May 29.

Also, Atiku has said he's ready to face the charges against him after May 29.I guess he deserves the right to be believed until proven guilty.

Devolution of Power from the Centre, Creation of State Police, Control of Resource by the indigeneous peoples These are the things the opposition promises to deliver. Let give them a chance.

In any political setting and in the constitution, under the principle of collective responsibility, the VP is jointly responsible for every act of the President.

Under the constitution, the President and VP are in a joint marriage venture. They remain inseparable. They both stand and fall at the same time.

It is in this light, that OBJ and his legal team are vehemently seeking the exit of the VP and they are right and may have their way through the Federal Court of Appeal.

The fact that he has refused to resign means that he is bound by the collective responsibility clause in the constitution and having left the ruling party to another political party, he is no longer a part of this marriage that bind him and the President under the principle of collective responsibility.

Who do you blame for this confusion? Of course, the parliament who drafted the constitution has to be blamed for not making proper clarifications on the issue.

The court have been part of the problem too, yes OBJ disobeyed some court orders which are not really the best thing to do in the interest of constitutional democracy. But our courts are not helping matters, I personally think democracy however you want yo define it is useless if it does not protect the security of lives and properties of ordinary Nigerians.
Some of the disobeyed court orders you are talking about include those granted to Fayose, Dariye to block their impeachment and prosecution.

And this same Atiku then was busy defending the fact that a man who has conspicuously looted his state treasury should be treated with kid gloves because he got some useless papers from the courts and thus his fundamental human rights must be repected. No one talks of the fundamental human rights of millions of Nigerians deprived of basic ameneties while looting the treasury.

OBJ's Government has not been perfect no doubts and we want something new. But I think Atiku does not represent that new thing. This same Atiku who has turned champion of the oppresed almost got one of his aides to kill a jounalist who asked him a simple question. Wait let him enter we will see how democratic he is.

Ofcourse , To me Atiku isnt the best option but neither is Obasanjo and his stooge.

Thats why we should all vote for Pat Utomi and me as vice president.

Now you are talking!!

Good talking about OBj's attack on him if he resigns. This is 2007 Nigeria, OBJ or EFCC will not subject him to firing squad and Nigerians will simply not accept that. They can only subject him to court.
Now the question is why is a man who is known to have won more than 6 court cases against the presidency afraid.?/ What is he afraid of??/

Probably this talk of Ribadu has some evidence he is waiting to show in courts is true.

Mr McKren,

I didn't mean to say he was afraid.I believe he's being smart enough to avoid OBJ's court palaver till after MAY29 .

Abeg lets stop these side taking, anyway the two are corrupt. I just want fairness and want the policies i mentioned earlier implemented.

I happen to believe that with some element of the defunct AD in AC that might as well come to pass and that Atiku isn't as Bad as OBJ. That's why as much as i want a PAT UTOMI Presidency,i still prefer an AC presidency to a PDP one.I really wish the opposition could come together and all of them can swallow there arrogance.


Cheers.

Italian Premier Romano Prodi, resigned few day for just loosing a vote in parliament. A silly vote in African standard

Funny!!!

If we go by Prodi's action, OBJ and Atiku should have resigned long ago. However, in Africa, President's don't resign because they see it as their birth right.

OBJ is entitled to life-time pension and resigning is not an option as he desperately need the pension. The last time he retired, he became penniless.

OBJ seem to want to make sure Atiku does not get the life-time pension. Does Atiku really need it when he has stacked more than 600 bil Naira in Swiss bank (far below what he may have in Asian banks where I understand is the new destination for money launderers) .

I hate to say it - but most Nigerians are unintelligent (granted, we have few a brilliant minds here and there).
It boggles my mind when they can't seem to recognize the obvious - a lot of the things we do are driving by
pure emotions not that which is smart or pragmatic. Our thinking for the most part is shallow and expedient.
This explains why we have no lasting institutions in our nation and will continue to remain in our quagmire 50
years from now

- A case in point
Lets abolish the EFCC or treat them as the new enemy of democracy simply because we percieve their crusade
as being "selective". Never mind whether those in their dragnets committed offenses or not. Since we can't bring
every one most especially those close the President or the President himself to justice at the same time. Yes, on
face value, it make sense and its seems fair - but its NEVER pragmatic.

- Another case in point
Atiku's allegiance or loyalty is to the constitution and not to the President. Hello!!!! What is the meaning of the
"vice" if he or she is not supposed to be the assistant captain of the plane or ship. Please try flying a plane with
two captains with different intents of which directions or coordinates or maneuvers they need to make and see
where you end up. There is no piece of document on earth that will spell out exactly every possible scenario of
what might happen in our political life (even the US doesn't have one). There will be grey areas that needs to be
interpreted, but at any given time the NATION's interest should be first, not some individual's. If for some stupid
reasons our law makers buy into this idea and codify this idiocy into law, then may God help Nigeria.

As much as I hate the guts of Atiku, if I was to vote, I will definitely consider voting for him if he had resigned his
his position as VP and started his fight/crusade from there on. What is he afraid of? Folks, there are leaders all
over the worlds who have campaigned from jails. These are true believers of democracy, not some self serving
individual who is out to manipulate his office to protect his behind. The guy is a complete fraud, but I should have
known that we have now become a nation that sympathizes with fraudsters that we even fight for their causes.

Once again another nairalander decides to crack out oyinbo and paint Nigeria Black from outside d Country.U know, its easy 4 u to do that,Place every democracy on the same scale and accuse people's input.


By the way, responses are a blend of serious and jovial thoughts. I hope you got that already. We are not in the "Sovereign National Conference" yet.

Now to the vice presidency issue, hey dude, loyalty to the constitution and respect/cooperation to the president can go hand in hand. kajiko.As u rightly said in every action leaders make, protecting the interest of the people should be paramount.

It is thus, expected that loyalty to the Nation or Constitution guarantees that rather than loyalty to a person in particular.Full Stop.

My brother, no matter how pissed you are about Nigeria or NIgerians, never fail to remain optimistic about us. Be it jokingly or seriously , we will get there.

Cheers.

I should have known that we have now become a nation that sympathizes with fraudsters that we even fight for their causes.

It's called Fraud Culture.

I strongly support your assessment. I've given up the fight against Atiku on this forum as some people just don't understand that what is at stake today is our national interest and not Atiku's innocence or his feud with OBJ.

Many here agree with the corruption charges against Atiku but just seem to wage a constant war against OBJ who was and is still part of the corruption machinery of Atiku.

Dubious politicians have been known to reconcile after protracted wars and there are chances Atiku and OBJ will reconcile in future. When the elephants fight, it's the grass that suffer and Nigerians are paying the price for this senseless war between Atiku and OBJ.

Rather than spend time and resources in the development of our nation, they are spending time and money in courts, overseas trips and irrelevant campaigns etc, distracting those that are working hard for the country.

It's hard to comprehend, really!!!

@ Shutmouth & iyke-D

Dont think most people do not agree with your position. I support totally the fight against corruption but my argument is that its not being done fairly. Perhaps OBJ and ATIKU would reconcile, but remember if we all had said yes to OBJ's move, 3rd term would have gone thorugh and OBJ would be cruising his way towards another 4 yeasr beiig president.

U want it not, opposition are greatly helped Nigeria in recent years.

Nonetheless,I wish all grossly corrrrrrrrrrrrupt people should be put in jail but is the EFCC guaranteeing that or is it being used by the president. Well, time will Tell.

I salute us all for Love 4 Nigeria.

Naija4live

Vote me for president , i will do better than Seun.

Iyke-D, Having read your assertion that most Nigerians are unintelligent , I was wandering which class you would place yourself. The intelligent or the unintelligent, please tell us.

I think IYKE would fall within the unintelligent-intelligent.

Nevermind, its a new category.

Vote me for president. I will get rid of the unintelligent, no no no, that's OBJ style, i meant i will educate the unintelligent.

@abdkabir,


I have made my point and I am glad its hitting home! You can put me in any category you wish.

Dont think most people do not agree with your position. I support totally the fight against corruption but my argument is that its not being done fairly. Perhaps OBJ and ATIKU would reconcile, but remember if we all had said yes to OBJ's move, 3rd term would have gone thorugh and OBJ would be cruising his way towards another 4 yeasr beiig president.

Agreed - the fight against corruption must be fought fairly. If you are not in the camp calling for the EFCC to be de-fanged or
even abolished, then my comment was not directed at you.

Maybe I was in a different planet when the 3rd term debate was on, otherwise, I don't understand why all of a sudden Atiku is
the face of the fight against 3rd term. The truth is that the National Assembly had a choice to make and they choose to stand for
Nigeria, not for Obasanjo. The same senate president that led the charge is still in power and not once has he been harassed by
the EFCC. It beats me why Atiku is now receiving all the glory and I suppose as a reward, we should forget the fact that he was
using the PTDF as his personal checking account. Thats how smart we are. Your reference and comment regarding Atiku and 3rd
term just reaffirmed my earlier position - emotions are taking over.

Of course, you need an effective opposition for true democracy to thrive, but please don't insult us by assuming Atiku is the only
opposition that Nigeria could produce and that without him our democracy is gone. Nigeria was before Atiku and will remain after
he expires.