No decision yet on Dariye's return to office, says minister
From Laolu Akande,
New York
IT is not yet clear whether the subsisting six-month emergency rule in Plateau State will be extended or not, according to the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Akin Olujinmi.
The minister made the admission recently during an interview with The Guardian in New York where he attended the yearly dinner of the Nigerian Lawyers Association (NLA). He disclosed that returning the suspended governor to office would depend on the "situation on ground," at the expiration of the six-month rule that has former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Chris Alli, replacing Dariye as sole administrator.
President Olusegun Obasanjo, in a June 18 national broadcast, declared the emergency rule and suspension of Dariye and the state House of Assembly over the spate of ethnic and religious clashes in the state. While two indigenes and the state House of Assembly have challenged the action in court, the suspended governor has pledged loyalty to the president.
Olujinmi, who was one of the guest speakers at the dinner in New York, had earlier intimated the lawyers and their guests of the several legal reforms that he had put in place since assuming office about a year ago. The minister stated that the dividends of democracy were not limited to physical structure but could be found in an atmosphere of peace, freedom, justice, law and order.
When asked whether Dariye would be reinstalled at the expiration of the six-month emergency` rule, the minister told The Guardian: "I cannot preempt government on that." He, however, indicated that an extension of the emergency rule might not take place, saying: "It is not really a matter that can be decided now until after the six months are over."
Olujinmi argued that the emergency rule was not a law by President Obasanjo, but a constitutional provision to safeguard democracy in unusual circumstances. But the minister restated that Dariye had not been removed but was only under suspension.
The Attorney General, who drew applause at his appearance and speech at the lawyers' dinner, also defended the establishment of the office of Administrator in Plateau State to fill the vacuum created while the Governor is still under suspension. "The Governor is still the governor, but has been suspended, that means he can no longer perform as Governor for the time he is suspended. There is the need to fill that vacuum," Olujinmi said. He added that the Emergency Rule Act, which some senior lawyers in the country had declared defunct, was actually still active.
According to the minister, that the Act was not included in the Laws of the Federation 1990 does not mean it has been repealed. Olujinmi argued that it was even stated in the codified laws that exclusion of a law does not mean its repeal. To him, an express repeal is the only way a law can become defunct. The Justice Minister said the Court of Appeal had even made a ruling in the past that stated that very clearly.
Conceding that the issue of Emergency Rule Act was one of the decisions for which he had been criticized, the minister dared any lawyer in the country to show him a piece of legislation that expressly repealed the Act." When I asked some of my colleagues to provide me with such a law, no one could do so," he said.
The minister also defended Obasanjo submitting that "he is the one person who believes most in the rule of law, but because of his military background, he has been misunderstood." On his relationship with Obasanjo, the Justice Minister said the president constantly sought his input on any issue that required legal advice. According to him, the president takes his advice even after heated disagreements. "If I say to him, Mr. President, you can't do this, he stops," the minister said.
On the controversy over the creation of local councils by some state governments, Olujinmi declared that the constitution did not provide for states to bulldoze their ways on the issue, arguing that until the consent of the National Assembly was received any action to that effect remained incomplete. On the states that have created new councils, he said: "You can't do that," adding: " That is abrogating the constitution."
Justifying the withholding of allocations to the states that have illegally created new councils, the minister defends the Federal Government's leniency with Ebonyi State. He said: "They (Ebonyi) did not abolish the councils created by the constitution, but merely created development centers."
Olujinmi observed that the recent Supreme Court advice on releasing funds to Lagos State, perceived as an order by the state could not be so, since it was part of the main issues being contested in the case.
On the recent contempt order sought against him by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over fuel prices, the minister said he had not been served any papers, but declared that the government was not violating any order on the case. "As soon as the court gave its order, the government took steps to get marketers to comply with it," he disclosed.
Since he became minister, Olujinmi disclosed that the Federal Government had complied with all court orders except the ones that it had cause to appeal against. "There are several money judgements that I got government to pay, lawyers for the plaintiffs are there to bear me out that this is happening. It is only the judgements that we appeal that we stay execution pending appeal. We have that right, we can appeal," he argued.
