For the Buhari Administration, APC, Dishonesty as Policy Choice

Background

The popularity and credibility of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration seemed to have started to wane almost from its inception; and six and a half years later, one and a half years to the end of the administration, it may almost be an impossibility to redeem its image – its ratings and that of the APC (All Regressives Congress), are at an all time low. And, while a few of the reasons for this unfortunate state of affairs are no fault of this Government, for example, the drop in global oil prices between 2014 and 2016; corruption of the previous administrations, especially that of President Jonathan and the PDP (People’s Destruction Party), and the resultant negative impact on the economy, infrastructure and Nigerians as a whole; the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020 and its devastating effects on the global economy and peoples’ lives in general, many more of the reasons for its loss of credibility and favour, are self-inflicted. According to the Cambridge Online Dictionary, ‘Credibility’ is defined as “the fact that someone can be believed or trusted”.

In legal parlance, APC’s campaign mantra, eradication of corruption and insurgency, and revamping the economy, translated to their undertaking to achieve many of the provisions contained in Chapter II of 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)(the Constitution), that is, the very essence of governance, the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, particularly Section 14(2)(b) thereof, the security and welfare of the people, and in record time too. Several years later, not much can be said to have been achieved in this regard, aside from the improvement of the road network and the railway. In 2017 and 2018, on this very page, I had testified to the fact that the electricity supply was superb in the area where I reside. Today, in 2021, the story is different, as we now experience frequent power cuts in our neighbourhood. Failure to keep such important promises, has definitely had an adverse effect on the credibility of Government. If anything, the situation in the country has deteriorated.

To make matters worse, all Nigerians have been hearing from the APC, the Minister of Information (Disinformation is more apt) and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and other Presidential spokespersons, are nothing more than excuses and the blame game – everything is the fault of the fact that the stars are aligned against Nigeria! The PDP’s corruption is the cause of all our problems! Tah! Yes, the PDP carries a generous amount of the blame, but the APC cannot be absolved from culpability because of this – APC has also become a serious part of Nigeria’s problems. I’m sure we are all too familiar with the saying about a bad workman who blames his tools! When a person starts to blame everything and everyone else but himself for his failures and inadequacies, never taking responsibility, whatever trust you reposed in such a person dissipates rapidly. And, when such a person cannot perform the simplest tasks satisfactorily, then you not only see the person as unreliable, incapable and inept, one starts to question ones own sense of judgement in the first place.

The first sign that all was not well with this administration, was the length of time it took President Buhari to assemble his cabinet – almost six months.

Nigerians had started to wonder whether the Cabinet Ministers were being recruited from Mars, Saturn or Neptune, only for the selection to be made from members of President Buhari’s Campaign Committee and other Party members. So, why did the process have to take so long? Meanwhile, the country was more or less in limbo and a free fall, and the security situation and the economy, worsened in the meantime.

As the security situation in the country continued to deteriorate instead of improving as APC had promised (and one of the reasons the Party was elected), the economy seemed to be on the same negative trajectory, and the people started to murmur against President Buhari’s Government, like the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, on their way to the Promised land! “We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, the melons, leeks, onions, and garlic:” – Numbers 11:5 King James Version, Holy Bible. In present-day Nigeria, people even started to long for the ‘good old Jonathan days’ when the average price of a 50kg bag of decent, edible ‘arosò’ rice was N10,000 and £1 exchanged for an average of N271, as opposed to today, where the same type of rice sells for N25,000 or more, and the official rate is now about £1 to N552, and almost N200 more expensive on the black market.

There have been complaints galore, borne out of the deliberate actions of this administration, which have further damaged its reputation. Space constraints prevent me from delving into all of them (that would probably require writing a book), but here are a few of the legitimate complaints: the security agencies being headed mostly by Northerners contrary to Sections 1(2) and 13 (3) of the Constitution, and there are countless accusations of tribalism, partiality and discrimination (sex and religion) contrary to Section 42 of the Constitution (ditto for positions only held by Southerners, that are not evenly distributed amongst the other zones); mishandling of the Herdsmen crisis to favour them, despite the atrocities they have committed against Farmers in Benue, Plateau, Taraba and other areas of the country; treatment of kidnappers and ‘bandits’ with kid gloves, with some even calling for amnesty for them when they simply do not qualify for it, and instead, should be prosecuted for the atrocities they have committed which have become the order of the day (practically stealing the show from Boko Haram); inability to subdue those causing mayhem and destroying national assets in the South East, particularly in Imo State, while parading the clueless Governor of Imo State as a hero for more or less lying down and playing dead, because he’s a member of the APC and a praise singer of President Buhari’s administration; showing contempt for the rule of law. In short, Government has reneged on its campaign promises.

Breach of Contract

President Buhari’s administration reneging on its promises in these circumstances, amounts to breach of contract. And, all the elements required to succeed in such a claim by the Nigerian people against this administration, exist. President Buhari and the APC offered themselves based on their ‘irresistible’ campaign promises (misrepresentation), and the people accepted and promised to give him their vote; consideration changed hands with the people giving President Buhari their vote; there was an intention to create legal relations as President Buhari ran for the election and won because the people voted for him. There has not been much of specific performance on the part of this administration, vis-à-vis the list of campaign promises. The misrepresentation on the part of the APC Campaign, be it fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation (definitely not innocent misrepresentation), induced Nigerians to vote for President Buhari. See the case of Afegbai v AG Edo State & Anor (S.C. 111/1996) [2001] 2 (13 July 2001). The attempt by Government to escape liability by inserting an exemption clause which was not part of the original contract with Nigerians, that is, blaming PDP, Twitter, and everything and everyone else for its failure, cannot avail this administration any protection. Even if the exemption clause had been part of the contract, it would only give Government protection, if Government had carried out the contract in its essential respects. See the case of Adel Boshali v Allied Commercial Exporters Ltd (Nigeria. Privy Council Appeal No. 51 of 1959. Judgement delivered on 14/11/1961). I submit that, Government has failed and neglected to carry out its contract with the Nigerian people in its essential respects – corruption is still rife, insecurity is at an all time high, and the economy is shaky.

#EndSARS Leaked Report

Fast track to the October 2020 #EndSARS Protest by the Youths, against Police brutality. Again, Government’s credibility has been called into question, as it has failed to carry out the institutional reforms in the Police that it promised to do as a result of the Protest, only effecting a change of nomenclature from SARS to SWAT. Conditions of service in the Police remain poor, and their personnel remain brutal.

The Report of the Lagos State Panel of Inquiry was leaked to the public, possibly to let the public know the truth and prevent any cover up by the Lagos State and Federal Government, with regard to the findings. I watched a Channels TV interview of Learned Senior Advocate, Kayode Enitan (one of the Counsel to Lagos State) last Friday, in which he stated that he had studied the leaked Report, and he noticed some discrepancies; he was simply nitpicking, but, he never at any time said that all the contents of the leaked Report were false.

Not only did the leaked Report refer to the Tollgate incident as a ‘Massacre’, it included a list of casualties which showed that nine people died as a result of the attack on the Tollgate, while the Minister of Information had claimed that there were no fatalities! Amongst other assaults and injuries, 20 people were determined by the leaked Report to have sustained gunshot injuries, two others, gunshot grazes, while four are missing and presumed dead. The Panel found that both live and blank bullets were fired by the Nigerian Army, and one of the reasons given for this finding, was that one of the soldiers that testified at the Panel on behalf of the Army, admitted that they went to the Tollgate with live bullets. The Panel also visited the ‘locus in quo’ (Lekki Tollgate) and found two expended live bullet shells. Additionally, the LCC in its Press Release of 21/10/20 marked as an exhibit by the Panel, in Paragraph 7 thereof said: “We sincerely regret this unfortunate incident, and once again condemn the shooting of unarmed protesters at the Lekki Toll Plaza and other locations in the State”. This is another admission of shooting made by the LCC who had cameras to view the incident privately, even if they did not make the videos public.

However, one thing the leaked Report failed and neglected to state, was who invited the Army to the scene. Was this deliberate? Because, this was a point that was too crucial to be overlooked. It may seem like an insignificant detail to a non-legal mind, but to a Lawyer, it is of the greatest importance, as it might just have been what would decide Lagos State’s culpability or otherwise in the whole unfortunate incident. This is one area where the concerns of ‘Nemo judex in causa sua’, come into play.

Conclusion

Does the Massacre of October 20, 2020 at the Lekki Tollgate Plaza qualify as a crime against humanity, that is, a systematic attack against an identified group of civilians – unarmed Youths to be precise? See the definition of Crimes Against Humanity in Article 7 of the Roman Statute of the International Criminal Court and Section 4(3) of the Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act 2000. Which responsible Government, opens fire on innocent, unarmed, defenceless children, simply for trying to insist on good governance? I am still trying to understand the rationale behind such a dastardly act; not just as a Mother, but, as a human being; I cannot. Boko Haram, ISWAP, Bandits, Kidnappers, and all other perpetrators of violence and mayhem in the country are available to be shot at by trigger-happy security personnel. Instead of doing that, you pick on defenceless Youths? While we are debating whether it was crime against humanity or not, it is indisputable that, on that fateful day, the actions of the security agencies, whether Army or Police, that is, opening fire on unarmed young civilians, whether firing blank or live bullets, was reprehensible and condemnable, and it resulted in death and injury of the innocent.

Again, Government has failed the test of truthfulness and honesty, as not just the CNN Investigative Report but the Panel of Inquiry instituted by Lagos State, has debunked the Army’s claim that only blanks were fired and nobody died. These unlawful actions translate to the offences of Murder, Manslaughter, Assault with the intent to cause Grievous Bodily Harm, amongst others, contrary to the Criminal Law of Lagos State, and just maybe, bringing the perpetrators to book, may help to start to redeem Government’s battered image, to some extent.