Saraki-Ekweremadu forgery saga and dearth of institutional integrity By Polycarp Onwubiko

                                              
In its purist form and origin, political activism was the grim efforts of man to better his environment and progressive advancement in the style of governing the dynamic nature of society. This premise guided people in the advanced countries of the world and gave rise to peaceful coexistence. Added to this is the supreme importance accorded to law and order, hence the maxim that “the law is no respecter of persons”.
It is very sad and lamentable that political activism in Nigeria has been anything other than respect to the laws and the imperative of according primacy to the integrity of public institutions. It is no wonder that fifty six years after political sovereignty, Nigerians have been unable to appreciate the primacy of rule of in the running of public institutions. What have apparently been institutionalized are flagrant disrespect and brazen violation of laws and by extension, the vile notion that some people are above the laws of the land. For instance, the law says that license is required to carry a category of light weapons for hunting expedition, but the purported owners of Nigeria have armed the Fulani herdsmen with AK-47 with which they kill, maim, rape, burn and occupy ancestral homes of people in the southern Kaduna state, Plateau state, Benue state and the southern parts of the country.
The arraignment of the senate presided, Dr. OlusolaSaraki and the deputy senate president, Barrister Ike Ekweremadu in the court for alleged forgery of the standing rules of the senate which facilitated their clinching of the exalted positions in the National Assembly has elicited sentiments instead of recognizing the primacy of law in governance. It is an incontrovertible fact that what led Nigeria to the brink of a failed state and economic quagmire is failure to accord primacy to the observance of laws and respect to the provisions of the supreme law of the land-the constitution.
What is playing out in the senate is a replica of the shenanigans in the organization and conduct of affairs in the political parties. It is baffling when people believe or go with the notion that laws of the country do not apply to the conduct of political parties. But this is naïve impression is very wrong because the essence of laws are ostensibly to govern private and conducts in the society. The notion of law has never been to be of selective application, going by the anecdote that some animals are more equal than the other. In other words, the essence of laws is to highlight the intention of the Almighty God in creating human beings to be distinct from the animal kingdom.
In the organization of political parties, especially the conduct of primaries for the selection of candidates to vie for election, respect for the laws are thrown over-board in the silly notion that it is the private affairs of the political party. It is this vile notion that throws up brazen impunity, bribery, manipulation, rigging, nepotism and all that. When the marginalized and aggrieved go to the law court, the judge will have the temerity to declare that complaint is the private affairs of political parties.
It is grossly wrong to say that the forgery saga in the senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the private affairs of the apex chamber of the national legislature. It was the height of naive judicial pronouncement that it was wrong for the Clerk of the House to invite the law enforcement agents to investigate the alleged forgery of the Standing Rules which enabled the election of the two principal officers of the Red Chamber. A legislator has no power to violate the rules in the legislature because the legislative institution was put in place by the law. In other words, the rules were the logical outcome of the law that established the legislature and therefore it is imperative that legislators must conduct themselves in accordance with the rules governing the legislature. Consequently, violation of any of the rules will attract sanction. It is therefore a brazen display of impunity born out of primitive mindset for a legislator to go with the impression that he can do what he likes to assuage his ambition.
It is exhilarating that the secretary of the federation mustered the courage to advise the senate president and the deputy senate president to face the charges of forgery of the Standing Rules preferred against them in the law court. It is naïve for some senators to threaten the executive branch of government for instigating the law enforcement agency to interfere with the supposed internal affairs of the House.
It is laughable for the deputy senate president to write petitions to the international communities on the court action. Such sentiment smacks of pettiness since the outcome of the letters will be to expose the country to laughing stock. The leaderships of the international institutions know that the laws of Nigeria are meant to be observed in all the institutions of government including the senate. In other words, the legislature should not have or be governed by a separate set of laws to enable the members to do whatever they fancy in the name of private affairs.
Nigeria should stop being a laughing stock in international communities and has to get its acts right. One can say that the only discernible difference between the advanced countries of the world and developing countries is the primacy accorded to the observance of laws by all and sundry.Nigeria cannot witness genuine and sustainable socio-economic and political growth and developmentwithout recognizing the supreme importance of strictly adhering to the laws of the land and jettison the silly notion of private affairs in the running of political parties and the conduct in the legislatures.
Mr. Onwubiko is a public affairs analyst, AwkaAnambra state