By Ochuko Akuopha
Mr. Magaji Ibrahim, SAN, an astute legal practitioner, in this interview, speaks on rule of law, restructuring, true federalism, sack of service chiefs amongst other sundry issues.
Do you support the agitations by stakeholders for restructuring of the country?
The political space of this nation is littered with various agitations and clamour for restructuring. I really share in the pain of those calling for the disintegration of Nigeria as a country. But beyond that is the reality that the division of this country isn’t the solution to the problems facing us as a people.
The solution lies in the realisation of our differences and understanding same to be a blessing rather than a vice. There is strength in unity. As the saying goes, united we stand, divided we fall. When we harness our differences positively, we will realise the blessings of God upon us as a heterogeneous society.
What about the agitation for true federalism?
This will wake up a lot of our political leaders especially the governors to the economic realities of their respective states, discourage laziness and encourage innovative and positive developments in the various federating units.
President Bola Tinubu said recently that unnecessary and illegal court orders used to truncate democracy would no longer be tolerated. What is your take on this?
With due respect to His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Tinibu, that comment was not made in the interest of democracy but to satisfy his personal aggrandisement.
It is rather a danger to our nascent democracy and ought not to have been uttered. The beauty of every democracy lies in the ability of the political class to respect the rule of law.
When a court order is delivered or handed over by a court of competent jurisdiction, any person aggrieved has windows to challenge the said order in line with the law.
The executive under Mr. President must do all within its powers to respect the independence of the judiciary.
Owing to the worsening spate of insecurity, some stakeholders have recommended the establishment of state Police as a way forward. Do you agree with them?
As much as I believe that the project is good, I also believe that same is subject to abuse. There is nothing wrong with the police structure as it is. The problem lies in the operation and management.
The same people that manipulate and are responsible for the malfunction of the Police are the same people or politicians at the state levels. Therefore, the problem is not whether or not the police are federal or state. The problem is with the system tied down to bad leadership.
There is nothing local about crime fighting. In fact, most crimes in Nigeria and beyond require modern approach to tackle. In any event, the architecture of our security is such that represents the cosmopolitan nature of our country which can be deployed as the need arises. There is no single approach to crime fighting globally because even the criminals keep advancing with time. So when you are faced with the local personnel to deal with criminals from their own communities and most likely families, you are faced with a great likelihood of bias and possible compromise out of human frailties.
Do you think there has been adherance to the tenets of separation of powers by the three arms of government since the inception of democracy in 1999?
While I acknowledge the fact that we are making progress politically, I must confess that the political class has not been respecting the separation of powers as enshrined by in the constitution particularly as it pertains to the judiciary. This fact has manifested itself in so many ways in Nigeria. The range of issues such as lack of financial autonomy, disobedience/disregard to court orders and judgments and intimidation of judicial officers, unmeritorious appointments of judicial officers and others, are still there. I believe we can discuss more to be politically stable.
What do you have to say about the sack of service chiefs and IG by the President?
To me, every leader has his approach to leadership. President Tinubu is not the same with the outgone president. We cannot decide for him how he can go about his leadership. We can only pray for him. He had his blue prints on the type of leadership he wanted for the nation. He probably did not find the previous defence chiefs viable enough to drive his agenda. There is no law that says he must continue with them.
Source: Vanguard