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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / The President Has No Constitutional Mandate To Probe Corruption - Vanguard (953 Views)
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The President Has No Constitutional Mandate To Probe Corruption - Vanguard by Elose11(m): 10:41am On Jul 03, 2016 |
Let us think of the Deputy
President of the Nigerian
Senate as, like a co-pilot. His
hands are on the same lever
with the president of the
senate, navigating the
nation through the storms of
nation-build. That is right:
nation-building does not
happen at the executive
office, it happens in the
chambers of the nation’s
legislative houses.
This is a fairly clear axiom of
democracy: without the
parliament, there is no
republic. It is the parliament
that legitimizes a free
democratic state. It is the
very source of all powers of
governance. The parliament
of the land is the most
powerful institution of state,
not the office of president,
as most Nigerians, still
steeped in military-era
mentality tend to think. The
President is a servant of the
elected, and constituted
National Assembly.
While the National Assembly
is both the voice, the ears,
and the eyes of the public in
the system of democratic
rule. They do not answer to
any other person – neither
to the courts nor to the
president – but to the
people. That is why,
whenever there is a coup,
the first institution that is
abolished is the parliament
of the land. For as long as
the parliament is in session,
the nation exists. But
wherever a parliament is
abolished, the nation goes
into a hiatus. In that
instance, the president
answers to no one. That is
the meaning of absolutism.
The only power parliament
accounts to is the people. I
need to emphasize this
again. Which is why I was
both startled and personally
horrified this past week on
reading the silly letter to the
US Congress, the EU, the
UK, and the UN, by the
Deputy president of senate,
Mr. Ike Ekweremadu,
complaining that Nigeria’s
democracy is threatened. I
am horrified that the
Nigerian press that
consented to dignify such a
middling letter by publishing
it, did not go, as part of its
obligation to the public, to
ask Mr. Ekweremadu what
he expected the UN, the US
Congress, the UK, and the
EU to do with his letter of
complaint.
I do not especially recall that
the Speaker of the UK
Parliament wrote to Nigeria,
or the AU, or the US
Congress, or the UN when
the “Yes” vote carried on
the Brexit referendum, or
whenever the Labour
Opposition fought with the
ruling Conservative party in
the Commons. Nor have I
even heard, or seen any
self-respecting African
nation misusing its
sovereign mandate so much
as Nigerians in making such
silly appeals to the
“international community.”
Yes, Africans now call
Nigeria: “the big fool.” It is
such a remarkable
transition, from the “giant of
Africa” to the “big fool of
Africa” because Nigerian
public officials are colonized,
sanitized, hypnotized, and
perhaps in fact, lobotomized
so much that they
misconstrue their place on
the world stage.
Nigeria is currently an
inferior nation because she
is run by inferior men and
women. Many of us feel
utterly ashamed by the
quality of individuals that we
have managed to hand over
the sovereign mandate, and
it is my view that the full
measure of Ike
Ekweremadu as a legislator
and politician can be taken
in the weight and
significance of his letter.
The US Congress or the UK
government or the UN does
not have voting rights in
Nigeria. Ike Ekweremadu did
not write to his constituents
whom he represents in
Enugu, nor to the Nigerian
people, whose views and
actions, and interests,
matter in this question. He
did not write a straight and
unambiguous letter to the
president to back off. He did
not write to his legislative
colleagues to drive home
the necessity of protecting
the republic from the
intrusion of a rampaging
elephant in a China shop.
He wrote to some alien
powers whose opinions are
really inconsequential to
whatever might become of
this rapidly evolving
situation. And I’m sorry to
say that Ekweremadu’s
letter only proves that he
has no business wearing the
shoes of mighty men.
He has also proved the
average Nigerian politicians
utter disrespect of the
Nigerian electorate from
whom they derive their
mandates. He has also
demonstrated that he lacks
a basic grasp of the nature
of his own mandate as a
senator of the republic.
Perhaps I should outline this
basically by saying that the
president’s actions, for
instance, in these anti-
corruption probes, usurps
the power of the legislature.
President Buhari has no
mandate to probe
corruption or misuse of
public funds.
The only institution
mandated by the
constitution to probe any
person or any institution of
government is the National
Assembly and the various
Houses of Assembly. Here is
what the Nigerian
constitution says without
ambiguity: “ 85. (1) There
shall be an Auditor-General
for the Federation who shall
be appointed in accordance
with the provisions of
section 86 of this
Constitution.
(2) The public accounts of
the Federation and of all
offices and courts of the
Federation shall be audited
and reported on to the
Auditor-General who shall
submit his reports to the
National Assembly; and for
that purpose, the Auditor-
General or any person
authorised by him in that
behalf shall have access to
all the books, records,
returns and other
documents relating to those
accounts.
(3) Nothing in subsection (2)
of this section shall be
construed as authorising the
Auditor-General to audit the
accounts of or appoint
auditors for government
statutory corporations,
commissions, authorities,
agencies, including all
persons and bodies
established by an Act of the
National Assembly, but the
Auditor-General shall -
(a) provide such bodies with
-
(i) a list of auditors qualified
to be appointed by them as
external auditors and from
which the bodies shall
appoint their external
auditors, and
(ii) guidelines on the level of
fees to be paid to external
auditors; and
(b) comment on their annual
accounts and auditor's
reports thereon.
(4) The Auditor-General shall
have power to conduct
checks of all government
statutory corporations,
commissions, authorities,
agencies, including all
persons and bodies
established by an Act of the
National Assembly.
(5) The Auditor-General
shall, within ninety days of
receipt of the Accountant-
General's financial
statement, submit his
reports under this section to
each House of the National
Assembly and each House
shall cause the reports to be
considered by a committee
of the House of the National
Assembly responsible for
public accounts.
(6) In the exercise of his
functions under this
Constitution, the Auditor-
General shall not be subject
to the direction or control of
any other authority or
person.”
The National Assembly can
also summon anybody
before it, including the
president of the republic, as
well as cause the removal of
anybody from office by
impeachment, including the
president or his Attorney
General. The National
Assembly can mandate the
Attorney General to try the
president for treason, if it
finds the president to be a
threat to the republic. The
National Assembly can
defund the office of the
Attorney General, the EFCC
or any statutory office of
government, or cause it to
go into abeyance.
The National Assembly can
stop the functions of the
federal government by de-
authorizing any presidential
expenditure. That is the
extent of the power of the
legislature. With regards to
the current distraction of
trial for “forgery” of the
president and deputy
president of senate, one is
thoroughly shocked that
these gentlemen consented
to appear in court! No court
of the land has the authority
to summon any legislator to
court on questions around
procedures, discussions, or
actions carried out within
the chambers of the
National Assembly. This is
the practice all over the
world.
The allegation of “forgery”
of senate rules is a
distraction because the rules
of senate are subject to
change, and is what it is,
when a sitting senate votes
to use, amend, or discard it
as the case may be, as its
guiding frame. It is not
subject to the intrusion of
any court, much less the
presumption of crime by the
Attorney General.
This, Mr. Ekweremadu and
Dr.Saraki ought to know,
and should be properly
advised, as an act honoring
their mandate, to desist
from appearing any further
before any courts on this
matter, and take charge of
their legislative duties. Vanguardngr 3/7/2016 |
Re: The President Has No Constitutional Mandate To Probe Corruption - Vanguard by BossKratos: 10:52am On Jul 03, 2016 |
The president did not probe anybody mr man! That is the job of the judiciary and the efcc! Corrupt bastards should stop blaming their shadows for acts they willingly engaged in when nabbed! 1 Like |
Re: The President Has No Constitutional Mandate To Probe Corruption - Vanguard by franklinjoseph(m): 10:52am On Jul 03, 2016 |
In my own view, these men know the status they possess as principal members of the legislature. They are only appearing before these courts in order to justify any actions they may take subsequently. The matter is far from over yet. Buhari has never been a better politician than Saraki. Lets watch and see how it plays out. |
Re: The President Has No Constitutional Mandate To Probe Corruption - Vanguard by saintkel(m): 11:16am On Jul 03, 2016 |
BossKratos:Mr man who gives EFCC order to probe dis persons, they got d order from above abi? |
Re: The President Has No Constitutional Mandate To Probe Corruption - Vanguard by Mologi(m): 11:40am On Jul 03, 2016 |
SO,mr Buhari them say mak u sidon first... |
Re: The President Has No Constitutional Mandate To Probe Corruption - Vanguard by crownprince102: 12:02pm On Jul 03, 2016 |
Total package of Nonsense...... Last I check, EFCC was incharge of corruption cases and their chairman wasn't named Buhari. If Buhari was the one probing them. Atleast 1200 will be in Prison by now and another 500 preparing to go before next two month. |
Re: The President Has No Constitutional Mandate To Probe Corruption - Vanguard by drss(m): 12:10pm On Jul 03, 2016 |
sane pipul already know dis. buari will spend his entire tenure fighting every body. only zombies tink oda-wise. if nass members knew their constitutional powers properly, d dullard will not even dare calling their names talkless of accusing dem of forgery. imagine senate n deputy senate president standing like mere commoners in front of court for alleged forgery some tin dat is totally an in-house n legislative matter. dem too dey dull. most legislators ar totally ignorant of their constitutional role. |
Re: The President Has No Constitutional Mandate To Probe Corruption - Vanguard by blackpanda: 12:28pm On Jul 03, 2016 |
99% of this post is nothing but misinformation and lies First of all, the President didnt probe anybody. That the job of efcc. And guess who brought efcc into existence? Who passed their enabling Act? Who gave them all the powers to investigate, arrest and prosecute? NATIONAL ASSEMBLY!!! The president has nothing to do with this. Secondly, the office of the Attorney General is guaranteed under the Constitution. This means it is beyond the powers of the national assembly. They can therefore NOT cause it into abbeyance! The truthg is that for the first time our institutions are now working free from political manipulations and sudden death to investigations. And this is something most nigerians are not yet used to. We are so used to the President deeping hand in everything. Such was the life under the corrupt and impunity-driven pdp administration |
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