By virtue of their office, governors do not move anyhow. Their schedule is planned in detail and everything is done according to protocol. Without the protocol say so, a governor would not move out of his home or office. So, whenever a governor moves, it means all loose ends have been tied. The all-clear to go is critical because of the governor’s safety and security.
A governor is not supposed to visit any place on the spur of the moment. To do so will amount to disrupting the security arrangements for his movement. In an impromptu change in a governor’s itinerary, his security aides may be stretched in order to ensure his safety. A governor is a charge of the state, which is responsible for his welfare and security. But some governors, out of mischief, dump protocol and insist on doing things their own way.
And when the bubble bursts, they try to defend the indefensible. They make up stories to cover their self-serving action, forgetting that the people are wiser than they think. I have not ceased wondering since the story broke why a governor with a case at the tribunal would go to the Supreme Court to see the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Mahmud Mohammed. Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike called at the CJN’s office not once, but twice. With a petition challenging his election before a tribunal sitting in Abuja, where the CJN has his office, there is more to that visit than meets the eye.
If The Punch had not broken the story of the inexplicable visits, chances are that Wike and his aides would have pretended as if nothing happened. As a lawyer whose wife is also a judge, Wike is expected to know that you do not visit a judge, whether in your private or official capacity, when you have a matter in his court. Even if he has a matter before his wife, she is not expected to discuss the case with him at home because like her fellow judges, she is expected to dispense justice without fear or favour, affection or ill will to all manner of men.
Wike may argue that his case is not before the CJN, but he should not forget that the tribunals were set up by the CJN, who while inaugurating them warned that they should shun corruption. By trying to see the CJN, Wike’s intention was to go right to the top to pull strings in respect of his case.
Wike knew what he was doing by embarking on those two visits in three days – between July 6 and 8. He knows that the CJN wields enormous influence over the tribunals. So, he thought by sweet talking the CJN, his lordship could be made to get the tribunal to play ball.
The governor will never admit that he had ulterior motive in going to the CJN’s office without appointment; no he will never. He will defend his visits with the last drop of his blood, if need be, because what he went there for is not for public consumption – it is not something the ears should hear. His reasons for the visits are puerile. He said he went to see the CJN to thank him for sending Bayelsa State Chief Judge Justice Kate Abiri to swear him in on May 29 and over the vexed issue of a chief judge for Rivers.
‘’I didn’t go there to lobby for anything cynical. If I was going to lobby for anything like that, would I go in the afternoon? You may wish to know that we have an acting chief judge in my state, and the judiciary is already on vacation and that the National Judicial Council (NJC) may also be on vacation. So, I needed to do a letter to the NJC on the need to extend or approve the appointment of the acting chief judge in my state. I went there on the two days in daytime; and see Nigerians, they are already imputing another meaning to the visits’’, Wike said.
Yes, we are already talking because he did not exhibit utmost good faith. The governor did not act honestly under the circumstance. Who were those who followed him to the CJN’s office? If he had met the CJN would he have limited himself to issues of his inauguration and the renewal of the appointment of his state’s acting chief judge (ACJ)? Would he? Nigerians are no fools; they can see through Wike’s visits, whether or not he comes out with the truth.
With due respect to him, the issues he listed for his visits are what the governor should not have broken sweat over because they have been constitutionally settled. The CJN was not doing Wike any favour by asking Justice Abiri to swear him in. The CJN was only interpreting Section 185 (2) of the Constitution, which stipulates that the chief judge; or grand kadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal; or president of the Customary Court of Appeal of any state can swear in a governor, where nobody holds those offices in the elected governor’s state. Moreover, immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation Mohammed Adoke (SAN) had asked Justice Abiri to take up that job last May 29, a directive, which the CJN later confirmed. Has he visited Adoke too to thank him? Must Wike visit the CJN personally to show his appreciation? Couldn’t he have written to thank the CJN?
Must he also go to Abuja over the renewal of the appointment of his state’s ACJ? All he needs do is to write the NJC, seeking its approval to renew the ACJ’s appointment as contained in Section 271 (5) of the Constitution. Did Wike visit the CJN before he appointed the ACJ shortly after he assumed office in May? His wife is a judge; so if he is confused about these matters, why didn’t he seek her opinion instead of embarking on a mission that could have destroyed the judiciary. Thank God that he didn’t meet the CJN during those visits. The governor would have ended up tarring a man, who is doing all he could to uphold the integrity of the judiciary.
This shows that our judges must be extra careful with politicians who will stop at nothing to ensure that they have their way. If Wike had met the CJN during those visits, the public would today have been calling for the nation’s foremost justice’s head because of fear that his lordship may compromise his office. Milord, there are many Wikes still out there looking for men of honour like you to destroy; so, be careful. To remain safe, the catchword for the CJN and his men is beware of politicians and their tricky visits.
NATION
END
Wonders shall never end in Nigeria my country.