PLAYING POLITICS WITH TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS 

 MUftwang’s suspension of the Rekna of Bashar is unfortunate, contends Ibrahim Tagdan

Great political leaders have over the years shown that it is more expedient to focus on decisions that foster unity among their people than take actions which could cause divisions through stoking the embers of discord.

It is with this consideration that leaders usually avoid undue partisanship in their actions but become intentional about enhancing unity and cohesion among the populace.

Rather than toe this line however, Governor Caleb Muftwang of Plateau State, who by learning and experience is a product of justice and fairness, appears to be treading the wrong path by importing partisanship into a matter as sensitive as the choice of a traditional ruler, which process has since been concluded even before he assumed office as governor.

As far as the people of Bashar District in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State, and indeed the entire state can recall, the process that led to the selection of the Rekna of Bashar, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Abdullahi Idris Isa, following the demise of Alhaji Adamu Idris in September 2022, is a settled matter. This has been concluded following all laid down procedures.

It is to the credit of the kingmakers that all matters pertaining to the selection of the Second Class chief were settled, and the unanimous choice of Alhaji Abdullahi Idris Isa was made public without anyone challenge to the process in a court of law. If there were flaws, some would have gone to court, as is usual with such keenly contested positions.

The exhumation of the matter two years after it has been concluded and more than a year into the reign of the current Rekna through a petition by some faceless individuals, and the manner in which the state government attended to it with military dispatch raises suspicion as to the intentions of both the government and those behind the petition.

As observed earlier, the matter, having been concluded and sealed with the imprimatur of the then governor, Simon Lalong in 2022 was unanimous, undisputed and without complaints to warrant a revisit at any point in time.

But even if there were issues concerning the selection process, that such matter was not raised until after two years should have, under normal circumstances, made the matter status barred, and therefore unfit for arbitration or adjudication.

It is well known that even in the election of the Nigerian president, which is the highest political office in the land, the time allowed for filing of petitions does not flow endlessly but is confined to 21 days after election.

It is therefore curious that Governor Muftwang, who is a lawyer and hence expected to be versed in legal procedure and administration of justice, is going against this principle by allowing himself to be lured into taking certain actions that could question his expected fair-mindedness as a leader, and as an officer in the temple of justice.

Secondly, the speed with which the state government responded to the questionable petition by suspending the Rekna even before the ‘petition’ would be responded to, claiming that it took the action in order to prevent the traditional ruler from interfering with investigations into the matter, raises further suspicion. 

The Rekna was not among the kingmakers who did the selection in 2022, and will certainly not be the one to constitute the committee that will look into the matter or decide those to appear as witnesses. Hence, it is unclear how he would have interfered with any investigation into the process of his selection that should warrant his suspension from office.

Suspending the Rekna appears to be a predetermined action to penalise the traditional ruler and ridicule him before his people, regardless of whatever the outcome of the investigation would be.

This is also another case of gross violation of the principle of justice, as it is similar to punishing a defendant even before a matter is heard, and determined.

At this stage, It will be pertinent to remind the governor that when his election was challenged by his opponent, he was asked to vacate his office even when the appeal court ruled in favour of his opponent,

but he was allowed to continue as governor until the Supreme Court gave its final verdict.

Asking the Rekna to proceed on suspension, therefore, is akin to putting the cart before the horse as it has already imposed on him a penalty even before the hearing of the matter..

Discerning minds expect that having benefited from the fairness of the law, Governor Muftwang should extend the same measures to citizens of his state regardless of how strongly he feels about an issue.

This is more so because the Rekna has not been accused of any wrong doing. What the petitioners allege has to do with the process of his selection to the stool, a process which he, just like any other contestant for the throne submitted to. It bears restating that the petition was only against the process of his selection but has nothing to do with his person.

Governor Muftwang cannot allow himself to be used by people who are afraid of fair competition, and who lack the capacity for winning public trust but attempt getting through the backdoor what they could not get via a transparent process.

It is trite that once a selection process is concluded, it remains sealed and incontrovertible while the process which was not challenged ab initio cannot be exhumed at the whims of any individual.

The governor will do well to crosscheck the fact that all the traditional rulers that had been sent on suspension were due to acts considered as gross misconduct and not through a revisit of the processes that threw them up.

The groundswell of suspicion in this respect is that the governor may have chosen to be blind to all these facts because the Reknan Bashar is a brother to the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, who is known to be the engine room of the opposition All Progressives Congress in Plateau State, the governor being of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

As the local government election is set to hold on Wednesday, it is being rumoured that it is because of the influence of the former deputy speaker who has never lost an election since 2007, but has been delivering Wase to the APC and its legacy parties that he is being indirectly hounded.

No doubt, Wase has consistently shown that he calls the shot in the entire local government and may deliver the local government to the APC again in the elections, but that is entirely a different matter which should not have anything to do with the traditional stool of Bashar.

If, however, this is what is driving Governor Muftwang to treat the traditional ruler so unfairly, then it it is unfortunate. Because, this will definitely send a signal to the people that the governor does not respect whatever they cherish and is only out to pursue partisan interests, even at the detriment of their collective well-being.

Ibrahim writes from Dengi, Kanam local government area, Plateau State