Monday Ubani, a human rights lawyer and former chairman of the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has said that the calls in some quarters to stop the inauguration of President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, are misplaced, noting that there is no legal framework to back such calls…..CONTINUE READING...CONTINUE READING
Ubani, while in a chat with our correspondent in his office on Monday, said it was wrong to call for a halt in the inauguration of the president-elect since such calls are not backed by any legal framework.
Ubani said: “I have heard people say why are they planning to swear in the president-elect and by extension the governors-elect when there are issues before the court and I am wondering have they looked at the laws?
“There is no legal framework. Does our legal framework say that in any election in Nigeria, a declared winner will not be sworn in until issues are settled in court? We are not starting this constitution today.
“We have been operating this constitution since 1999 and from 1999 till date, people who allegedly won were sworn in despite court cases. President Buhari went to court three times and in each case, the declared winner was sworn in.
“One can appreciate their concerns and that concern is this; how can somebody whose election is being challenged is asked to be governor or president? The person will now be using the state resources to fight the opponent. This is because immediately they get there, they have unhindered access to the state treasury which is one of the reasons that make Nigerians desperate to win political offices.
“Desperation comes because of what is available; there are no institutional checks and balances, so when they get there, they have unhindered access to the treasury and they now use the state treasury to fight their opponents. So that brought about the argument that why will you swear in somebody whose election is still being challenged; now when you swear him in, the man is inside while his opponent is outside being fought with state resources, why not allow the judicial process to end first because the judicial process is part of the electoral process.
“Because there is no such legal framework, you cannot ask the present people not to be sworn in because there is no legal framework that says they should not be sworn in. Until we amend our constitution; until we amend our electoral act, and now make a provision that says ‘don’t swear this person in until judicial intervention which is part of electoral process is concluded; such argument cannot stand.”
Ubani, former Vice President of the NBA, said that once there is no legal framework, such a call becomes absolutely wrong.
“In the absence of any legal framework, it will be absolutely wrong for anyone to depend so much on emotions and sentiment on this issue, we can’t operate that way. We as lawyers should always be fair and truthful at all times to tell even our clients who have contrary opinions to know what the law says.
“At times some lawyers begin to pander to the sentiment of their clients and say ‘yes you are right’; right where there is no such legal framework. We don’t have to pander towards sentiment; we should be truthful enough to look at what is possible, what is feasible and what is practicable, and what the law says…..CONTINUE READING
