11 August 2001
An apparent vexed issue as the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission (HRVIC) headed by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa (rtd) resumes sitting in Abuja next month, hinges on whether three former Heads of State would appear before it or not.
General Abdulsalami Abubakar was scheduled to face the commissioners on July 19 on matters strictly relating to the July 7, 1998 death of Chief MKO Abiola who was in detention. General Ibrahim Babangida had been summoned to speak on the 1986 death of renowned journalist, Dele Giwa by a parcel bomb.
In like manner, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was to appear before the Oputa panel in connection with Decree 20 of 1984 under which Batholomew Owoh and others were executed for pushing hard drugs. The trio shunned the distinct summons. But as Oputa and his colleagues return after a trip to London, the question refuses to die: will Buhari, Babangida and Abdulsalami appear before the commission this time around?
Just as the question sticks, so the controversy rages on. President Olusegun Obasanjo had expressed desire to see the triosome appear before the panel. 'I believe that any witness who values his name,' he said in an answer to a question bordering on the presence of his predecessors at the commission, 'will not want it to be tarnished. So, I will expect that any witness who has been mentioned inadvertently or advertently in connection with any case will make it a point of duty to say what he knows or does not know. And he can go there with his lawyer.
'In short, anybody invited should go. But if they don't, I believe that they will be doing the greatest disservice to themselves and to their families.' The Alliance for Democracy (AD) challenged the commission to issue bench warrants for their arrests because 'only such a bench warrant will be sufficient to make the point that they are not above the law.' According to the party, there must be no need for panic since the former rulers 'are only to offer explanations about certain events which took place during their administrations.'
In a sharp contrast, the All People's Party (APP) disapproved of summoning these men by the panel. Said Alhaji Yusuf Garba Ali, the national chairman of the party: 'APP is opposed to the public appearance of our former leaders before the Justice Oputa panel. The former leaders should appear before the commission in camera. 'We should not disgrace all our leaders. They should not be ridiculed. They should be treated with some respect and dignity. If there are certain things that are fundamental to the survival of the country, they should not be compelled to reveal them.'
Yet, the war of words would not cease to pour in. Rev. Bolanle Gbonigi, the retired Bishop of Akure Anglican Diocese prefers that the ex-rulers should come to defend themselves of the allegations levelled against them. But the immediate past Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Babatunde Belgore warns that 'as former Heads of State, they deserve some measure of respect. It would not be in the interest of the country's image if the former Heads of State are disgraced in public.' Just two days ago, the Arewa Consultative Forum remarked that it had begun to assess the allegations made against IBB, Buhari and Abdulsalami with a view to seeing how the pan-Northern body would advise them to appear before the panel. And same day, Oputa was emphatic that the commission has enough facts to make its recommendations whether the ex-rulers come forward to defend themselves or not.
Fresh facts available to Weekend Vanguard revealed that the retired generals may not be too willing to come to the panel 'because they know that some people, especially those in the present administration, want to score cheap political points over these statesmen whom they are afraid may be a cog in their political ambitions in the near future. Therefore, the plot is to bring them to the panel and then try to destroy their credibility.' But are they, indeed, the untouchables even though Oputa vows that 'nobody is a sacred cow because everybody is equal before the law'? What will be the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission's next move in the onerous assignment to reconcile Nigeria and her nationals with their tormented past? Will these wounds ever be healed?
Your soar-away paper pursues the answers farther in these chats with prominent female politician, Mrs. Sarah Jubril as well as notable First Republic notable player, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai and Chief Sonny Okogwu, the man who stirred prolonged debate not too long ago with his declaration that there was, indeed, a pact between the military and President Obasanjo. No doubt, you will find their views on the Oputa panel and other issues very analytical and thought-provoking.
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