Sanusi’s suspension: A case of a lost second term ambition, the Breakdown of the Rule of Law and Nigeria’s descent into riverine anarchy. The Jonathan administration dealt itself a final blow, and ignored all wise counsel to err on the side of caution, when it ingloriously dismissed from office the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. It was simply a case of the proverbial dog choosing to ignore the hunter’s whistle, preferring rather to embark on a self-destructive frolic in the wilderness. Apparently and in a move characteristic of a reckless stunt in a movie, the Presidency alongside its team of diehard powerful Ministers, decided to take the final plunge, willingly assuming all the foreseen and unforeseen risk, and damning all the consequences, by firing the somewhat stubborn and unbendable CBN Boss. The hurriedly assembled “Jonathan must return at all Cost Group”, threw all moral decency to the wind, turned a blind eye to the Constitution they swore to protect and decided, rather ghastly, that the next thing to do to arrest the tsunami-like revelations of Sanusi alleging massive fraud in the NNPC, was to fight him dirty, even if in the process they would by implication, destroy the integrity of the law and make a total nonsense of the CBN’s constitutionally guaranteed autonomy. It is indeed a season of desperate struggle over a do or die 2nd term ambition, a 2nd term ambition now unquestionably lost to a simple absence of commonsense. It is without contest, that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, while he held sway at the CBN was one of Nigeria’s finest CBN Governors. In all departments of the human personality, whether in finesse, poise, financial intelligence, and even sincere patriotism, he made Nigeria proud. Sanusi, as against his adversaries in the Presidency, was a perfect example of a leader that the Nigerian child would see and wish to be a CBN Governor. Unlike our Presidency, he was a radical departure from lethargic and lukewarm governance, and faced his job with a huge passion for success and quintessential bravery. From the moment he assumed office, he did not ask for time to learn on the job, neither did he began to give infantile excuses for having not created the legion of problems in the banking sector, rather as a Man ready to serve his fatherland, he hit the ground running and immediately began to pull down the various strongholds and principalities in the Nigerian banking sector. While Sanusi was busy working, the same people who are his enemies today, who indeed are the real enemies of Nigeria, were busy giving excuses that they did not create the problems of Nigeria, even when they had nearly spent 6years in office. Sanusi while in office epitomised the kind of leader Nigeria really needs. He was not afraid to look the enemies of Nigeria in the face and tell them the home truth. He courageously took on the Monster Bank CEOs who had cruelly stolen billions of depositors’ money and seized from them the banks they stole from the people. These once powerful Bank CEOs, who wined and dined with the Presidency at a time, were reduced to rubbles and consequently consigned to the dustbin of history. This unprecedented feat made it possible for some Nigerian banks to be rated as part of the best 500 banks in the world. By the time he was done, not only did Sanusi bail out those banks that had been declared distressed, he against all odds cleaned them up, gave them a new reason to be addressed as banks, and restored depositors’ confidence in the sector. Those who removed Sanusi on the 20th of February, 2014, knew clearly that they did not have the powers to do so; therefore their action is not a matter worthy of any intelligent analysis, neither is anyone concerned they it is a demonstration of their ignorance of the law. To go down memory lane, when they in the same manner removed the erudite erstwhile President of the Court of Appeal, Hon.Justice Isa Ayo Salami, of course they knew that they totally lacked the powers to remove him, but they still did. This they did with the confidence that the Nigerian people were neither Ukrainians, nor Egyptians who could courageously stand up to their government and demand what is right, knowing that they the People are the ultimate custodian of sovereignty. Thus, if Salami was removed unconstitutionally by the Presidency, and everyone carried on as if is business as usual, why would the same Presidency not be emboldened to throw out a CBN Governor, when it so wishes? So, it is simply a matter of another show of executive rascality in a country where impunity runs from the top to the bottom, and the people are no longer asking questions. Section 11(2)(f) of the CBN Act No. 7 of 2007 ( Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette No.55 Vol. 94 of 1st June 2007) is abundantly clear on this matter and cannot be derogated from, notwithstanding the mischievous political tactics deployed by those who purportedly procured Sanusi’s removal. It is trite law that the express mention of a thing is to the total exclusion of all others. This maxim of law is the backbone of the above section, which provides expressly that the CBN Governor can ONLY be removed from office on a recommendation from President, supported by two-third majority of the Senate. The law is not an ass, except for the men who are given the mandate to obey it. The twin requirements of that provision, are enacted to run concurrently, thus both the recommendation of the President for removal and the resolution of the Senate approving the removal must CO-EXIST in law. As against the reckless submission by an obviously ignorant member on the floor of the House of Representatives, there is no room for one part of that provision alone to be enough to remove the CBN Boss. It is not a one-legged provision that can kick a CBN Governor out of office. Where that happens, as in the case of Sanusi’s removal, no matter how much it is beautified with all manner of exaggerated excuses, it a total nullity in law. There is no replacement for the Rule of Law. Verily, if any replacement exists, it can only be the Rule of Men, which is the Rule of Anarchy. Where the Rule of Men exists, eventually even the Ruler is consumed when the patience of the People gets to the brink. In the strong words of John Adams, he said “We are a government of laws and not of men. Nearly 2,400 years ago, the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle explored political philosophy, and thereafter developed important ideas about government and politics. Two of the many political subjects that these men wrote about were tyranny and the rule of law and they concluded that tyranny occurs when absolute power is granted to a ruler. The rule of law was discussed by Plato in glowing terms, when he wrote: “Where the law is subject to some other authority and has none of its own, the collapse of the state in my view, is not far off; but if law is the master of the government and the government is its slave, then the situation is full of promise and men enjoy all the blessings that would be showered on a state”. In a tyrannical government therefore, the ruler becomes corrupt and uses his power to further his own interests such as a do or die second term ambition, instead of working for the common good of the nation. Likewise, Aristotle endorsed the rule of law, writing that law should govern, and those in power should be servants not masters of the laws. The rule of law thus stand as a fundamental principle of law that strictly prescribes that no one is exempted from the Supreme law of the land for the time being in force, not even those who are in the Presidency. Strongly upholding the tenets of the rule of law are the twin principle of Separation of Powers and Checks and balances. Checks and balances does not make any provision for parliamentarians to blindly support a President all because they are from the same political party, neither does it allow for them to metamorphose into errand boys in the Parliament who must be seen to be furthering a second term bid. These are simply elementary principles of law that determines the survival or otherwise of democratic rule in any nation. It is settled in law that you cannot put something on nothing, as there would be nothing to support the something. Therefore, where these principles are totally absent, no matter how much Politicians in such a terrain may boast and beat their chest that they are the largest political party in a certain region, whatever government they throw up is fated to collapse eventually. Nigeria’s fate since the coming of the present crop of Politicians has being one of a disgraceful outing. In a society of right-thinking people, the greatest crime a President can commit, is not when he openly antagonises the Governor of a State which happens to be the home-state of his Wife, or when he embarrassingly absconds from the venue of an International engagement, rather the greatest crime a President can commit is when he unrepentantly violates his Oath of Office, by flouting the laws of the land, thereby making a mockery of the Constitution. It is settled and salutary law that you cannot give what you do not have, maxim encapsulated in the Latin expression “nemo dat quod non habet”. Therefore, the attempt by the Presidency to arrogate to itself powers that it does not have, by ingeniously removing the Head of an Institution on whose the strength of the Nigerian economy lies, is the greatest assault on the Rule of law. In a final analysis, it is submitted that the Constitution, at any point in time, is far bigger than the Office of the President. This is because the Office of the President is itself is a creation of the Constitution, and a thing cannot be bigger than its creator, except when its collapse is not far off as Plato has opined. Where a Government descends from the exalted office of the Rule of law and chooses to run a country on its own whims and caprices, then it has simply flung open the door for its own exit and one can only wish it goodluck in its endeavour. Olusola Adegbite is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife,Nigeria.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Feb 2014 15:09:19 +0000
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