Daily Independent (Lagos)
Tunde Opeseitan
31 December 2008
interview
Tunde Odanye is a lawyer, a politician and a public affairs analyst. He was a former governorship candidate on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Osun State. In this interview with Tunde Opeseitan, he spoke on several national issues including the slogan of the present administration. He contended that the rule of law of President Umaru Yar'Adua is a ruse of law. Excerpts:
How would you react to the judgment of the Supreme Court, which upheld the victory of President Yar'Adua?
Very interesting I must admit, by the time you have a judgment at that level almost tied in number between the main judgment and the dissenting judgment, you can be sure the judgment would be well considered and erudite. Indeed, it can be seen that the case could have gone either way because both the judgment and dissenting judgment were well formulated, weighty, convincing and supportable in fact, jurisprudence, logic and law. I can assure you that it would be analysed, debated and cited by lawyers, law students and scholars for a long while to come. Indeed, I believe the Supreme Court Justices too recognising its importance and the legacy it would be bequeathing went out on a limb to deliver a most detailed and exhaustive judgment. Yet the judgment to my mind is so easy to comprehend and understand. For instance, the dissenting judgment saying Atiku was excluded while acknowledging that his name and party logo appeared (which was the sum total of the substantive judgment and Yar'Adua's counsel's argument) goes on to conclude that the hounding, frustration and delay in including him in the list of candidates was as much an exclusion in that he cannot be said to have enjoyed all the benefits of an early inclusion his co-contestants had, so while one dwells on the letter of the law the other dwells on the spirit.
And as to the main judgment, which said the non- serialisation of ballot papers did not substantially decry from the correct outcome of the law while the dissenting judges relied on the mandatory nature of the section of the electoral law that demanded serialisation of the ballot papers the lead judgment says it is forgivable by reason of the section that allows for substantial compliance as a defence/escape valve. It further exculpates on the grounds that all contestants contested under the same terms (non-serialised ballot papers etc) with different contestants winning in different places. Therefore, in their reckoning there was substantial compliance and the outcome/results reflected in general/overall the will of the voters. As for me as an individual, I am relieved over it because it has saved us from the trauma of another election the outcome of which we are sure would have been contested all the way to the Supreme Court and possibly beyond year 2011.
Talking about election petitions, what is your assessment of the judiciary?
Like everywhere else we have good judges, we have bad judges, we have corrupt judges and we have incorruptible judges. The funny thing is that both lawyers and fellow judges know those who fall into either compartment. The consolation is that the higher you go the fewer the judges and likewise the fewer the corruptible judges.
The problem is that our politicians are bad and sore losers so much so that because they all complain irrespective of the merit of the judgments given in their cases it is impossible for the public to properly assess the good from the bad judgments and judges. It is also unfortunate that like most things in Nigeria you find inept and lazy people lobbying to be appointed judges and in some cases they do succeed while the more able and better qualified because of its low reward system and opaque procedure for promotion to higher benches and unpredictable procedure for appointment of chief judges shy away from the bench. Lastly, in my humble opinion the general decline in the standard of education at all levels has affected the quality of lawyers produced and the judges. These days it is no surprise coming across lawyers and judges, who loath reading, yet the love of reading is a sine qua non for being an able lawyer or judge, as you are expected to read far and wide and possibly on every topic under the sun. Indeed, you shall read till you bend if you intend to do the work properly as a lawyer or judge. The rule of thumb is - a lawyer and by extension a judge is supposed to know everything about the law and at least something about everything else.
Some people have argued that the recent crisis that followed the local government election in Plateau State was an indication that our electoral process is still wrong. What do you think is wrong with our electoral system and the way out?
No doubt our electoral process is faulty regardless of Prof. Iwu's protestations to the contrary but the Jos riot to my mind wasn't just a consequence of an election but a much larger malaise, a failure and disconnect in our very nationhood. A country where the rich and powerful, who are supposed to unite us, but for their own selfish reasons seize every opportunity to divide us certainly, cannot augur well for our nationhood, its growth, its elections and everything else.
Until we have a complete overhaul of the actors whose vision does not exceed their immediate profit and who have absolutely no qualms about sacrificing numerous lives in maintaining their positions so long shall we continue to have episodes like the recent Jos riot.
I like you to comment on the recommendations of the Mohammed Uwais-led panel on electoral reform.
I'm sorry I am not overly optimistic about the effect of their recommendations on our electoral process. No doubt Justice Uwais is one of the most respected former Chief Justices of the Supreme Court around today, however, in participating on a couple of committees myself I have come to realise that recommendations abound in Nigeria on almost every subject under the sun tucked away in filing cabinets in various government offices, you only need to ask the civil servants to produce them for you. So, I'm not sure a similar fate does not await this panel's recommendation. Furthermore, have you ever seen a Nigerian government or political party implementing recommendations that might break their hold on power or turn out to their disadvantage? Again, experience has shown that until people understand that the group is larger than the individual and the country transcends a bunch of individuals so long shall the best of laws fail to provide the needed solution to our problems. The average Nigerian is so consumed by himself that the first thing he does to every regulation no matter how noble is to determine how it affects his interests and once it detracts from it no matter the overall gains for the larger group, he proceeds to disassemble it regardless of the effect of his action on the larger population.
Some states are now embracing the concept of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Lagos State Government has even created a courthouse called Lagos MultiDoor Courthouse (LMDC) for that purpose. What is your take on the practice?
It is no doubt the way to go, but like everything else change takes some time to creep in. It is even more so in a profession as conservative as the legal profession. Lastly, on this point I personally think more should be done to create awareness of this concept and its workings and at a cheaper rate than what presently obtains.
Many pundits have contended that the high fees being paid at the Law School is a ploy to deliberately prevent the poor from becoming lawyers. Do you share the same view?
The practice of the law has never been cheap, this explains why law abroad was initially the sole preserve of the Lords, Noblemen, Gentry and their heirs. Its being expensive also guaranteed and continues to guarantee good returns by way of fees and standard of living for its practitioners. Law books are probably the most expensive in the world, we have law books costing over a million naira and single volumes costing several millions of naira, yet our law schools are expected to have these in stock in their libraries. I'm sure you do not want to know how much it costs to set up an average law office. Add the suits, the wig and gown, the collars etc it is by its very nature costly and expensive. Now, do the cost of having worthy lawyers on the law school payroll as lecturers and I am sure you would appreciate the Law School's position. They no doubt are in a conundrum, with the naira depreciating, prices going up and a sworn duty to provide quality service, the cost cannot but be high as they must match these realities.
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