Daily Independent Online.
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Tuesday, August 24, 2004.
Uwais faults concentration of power in executive
• Obasanjo accuses NBA of opposing govt policies
By
Rotimi Fadeyi
and Sanya Adejokun, Abuja
Chief Justice Mohammad
Uwais has faulted the concentration of power in the executive arm of
government, saying concentrating it in the hands of one individual “is
the very definition of dictatorship, and absolute power is by its nature
arbitrary, capricious or despotic”.
To him, the executive
function, which involves the maintenance of peace, order, the security of the
state, the provisions of the social welfare and other functions, has an
inherent tendency towards arbitrariness.
Uwais spoke in Abuja
on Monday at this year’s annual conference of the Nigeria Bar Association
(NBA). His speech was delivered by Justice Alfa Belgore of the Supreme Court.
Said he: “A
constitutional government is conducted according to pre-determined rules. It is
a government of laws but not of will or according to the whims and caprices of
the ruler.
“Limited
government demands, therefore, that the organisation of government should be
based on some concept of structure whereby functions of law making, execution
and adjudication are vested in separate agencies, operating with separate
personnel and procedure.
“By separating
the function of the executive from that of law making, so that by insisting
that every executive action must, in so far as it affects an individual at any
rate, have the authority of some law, and by prescribing a different procedure
for law making so that the arbitrariness of executive action can be effectively
checked”.
In his view, each arm
of government should be given the necessary empowerment and independence to
create its own ground for good governance to thrive because that is part of the
recipe for the survival of the nation.
President Olusegun
Obasanjo used the occasion to come down heavily on the NBA, accusing it of
deliberately setting itself up as a political opposition to government policies
rather than a partner in the survival project of its administration.
He explained that the
NBA, as a professional body, has not dispassionately appraised the issues in
dispute between the government and the
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
His speech was
delivered by federal Attorney GeneralAkinlolu Olujinmi.
Said Obasanjo: “NBA is not a trade union, neither is it an
affiliate union of the NLC, I am therefore surprised that I am always wrong in
my expectation of a dispassionately professional appraisal by the NBA of issues
in the dispute between the NLC and government”.
Meanwhile, the
Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on Monday issued the certificate of
registration to the NBA, 52 years after the body came into being and as the
tenure of its 20th president comes to an end.
