Lagos — President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and the Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, appeared ready for tango over who should take charge of inquiry into the remote and immediate causes of the ethno-political violence that recently engulfed Jos, the state capital.

Despite the objection of the Plateau State Governor who has gone to the court over the issue, President Yar'Adua has stood his ground to set up an inquiry on the recent violence in Jos.

The twists and turns which the attempt to probe the mayhem have assumed is fast becoming a subject of public interest.

Yar'Adua, last weekend, described Jang's posture on the matter as belligerent. He was referring to Jang's insistence that it was the state and not the Federal Government that had the responsibility to inquire into the matter.

Speaking through his spokesman, Segun Adeniyi, the President explained that while he respected the federal structure he had also taken note of his responsibility to all Nigerians wherever they may live. He pointed out that there was nothing illegal or unconstitutional in his setting up of the Emmanuel Abisoye-led panel of inquiry.

Adeniyi said the quantity and sophistication of arms used in the violence indicated an intricate planning and stockpiling of weapons that raised serious national security concerns and warned that "the recent tragedy in Jos, which claimed hundreds of innocent lives had happened several times in the past and there are indications that it could happen again, if nothing is done to address the problem."

Speaking further, he said: "It is very deliberate that the panel is not headed by a retired or serving judge because it is not a judicial panel of enquiry but a fact-finding panel whose report can help navigate the current crisis while guiding against future occurrence. The belligerent posture of the Plateau State Government is rather unfortunate, but (Yar'Adua) is more interested in the cause of peace than in trading words with anybody. He believes that in situations like this leaders have to be very sober and responsible so as not to inflame passion; that is why he has directed that nobody should respond to all the provocative statements from the Plateau State Government.

"Some people tend to ignore the fact that for the first time in our recent history, we had a crisis of such magnitude in one city and there were no reprisals anywhere in the country. At a point, some people were grandstanding and speaking the language of war but (Yar'Adua) was busy reaching out to important stakeholders to help douse tension."

He recalled that this same problem led former President Olusegun Obasanjo to declare emergency rule on the Plateau, the first such step in this democratic dispensation, a line Yar'Adua does not want to toe.

"Over breakfast in Aso Rock shortly before the final lap of the Democratic primaries between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, (Yar'Adua) explained to the visiting former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in what 'I saw then as a subtle campaign for Obama that his election would not only be good for American race relations but that it would serve as a good lesson for many African countries, especially Nigeria, with regards to issues of minority rights, ethnicity, indigeneship and all that.'

"But now we seem to be learning nothing from that experience, with some leaders still speaking the 'we versus them' language when everyone is subject to their authority and should be protected. The President finds the whole situation very troubling."

NASS's Involvement

House of Representatives Defence Committee Chairman, Wole Oke, has also argued that the National Assembly has constitutional powers to investigate the mayhem in Jos or any other one in any part of the country. He made the clarification in Esa-Oke, at the weekend when he hosted Osun State Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to a luncheon. Oke praised Yar'Adua for setting up a panel to probe the matter, as no serious government would fold its arms and allow the nation to be on fire before taking any decisive action.

The committee set up by the House of Representatives to investigate the causes of the recent crisis that followed Plateau State Local Government election in Jos began sitting on Monday, January 5, in Jos. Chairman of the committee, Isah Idris Umaru, said they were in Jos to receive memoranda from the general public.

The constitution of the House of Repreentatives Committee has attracted objections like the ones set up by Yar'Adua and Plateau Governor, Jonah Jang. A group called Confederation of Plateau Youth Movement said they would not attend the committee's sitting and criticised the composition of the members of the committee at a press briefing addressed by the Chairman of the group, Silas Vem.

He said the composition of the members was not fair to the Christian community because out of the eight members of the committee three are Christians, five are Muslims, and criticised Abdul Ningi who moved the motion for the setting up of the committee. Besides Isah Umaru, other members of the committee include Chile Igbahuwa, Adefolabi Adeole, Darlington Orkarde, Abdul Ningi, Johnson Abologbo, Sani Saleh Minjibir, Abdullahi Garba Bungudu and Ezenne Nwacheize, Secretary of the committee.

Matters Arising

Yar'Adua, on December 25, 2008, constituted an administrative panel headed by Major-Gen. Emmanuel Abisoye (rtd) to inquire into the Jos crisis. Other members of the panel were Festus Okoye, Ambassador G.B. Preware, Fatai Sa'ad Abubakar and Musa Shafi'l (Secretary). The terms of reference of the panel included looking into the cause or causes of the crisis, and identifying those responsible for it.

In response to the Federal Government's action, Jang promptly filed a suit at the Supreme Court to decide whether the President had the power to inquire into any violence in the 36 states of the federation?

Jang also asked the apex court to order Yar'Adua to stop meddling in the affairs of the state in the aftermath of the November 28, 2008 Jos crisis.

Jang, who is suing the President on behalf of the state, has invoked the original jurisdiction of the apex court by requesting it to stop a panel set up by Yar'Adua from probing the mayhem in which hundreds of lives and properties worth millions of naira were lost.

In the suit filed by Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), Jang asked the Supreme Court to declare that Yar'Adua had no power under the 1999 Constitution or the Tribunal of Inquiry Act 1966 (now to be found in Cap T21 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) to constitute a tribunal or appoint any person or group of persons by whatever name called to inquire into the Jos unrest.

He also requested the court to hold that the power to constitute a tribunal to inquire into the violence was a residual matter on which only the state House of Assembly was competent to make law, vide section 4(7) of the constitution.

Consequently, Jang urged the court to grant an injunction restraining the panel from inquiring into the Jos mayhem.

Similarly, he sought an injunction restraining the Federal Government and its agents from directing anyone or a body of persons to sit or continue to sit as a tribunal purporting under the Tribunal of Enquiry Act on the disturbance.

In an affidavit sworn to by the Director of Civil Litigation in the Plateau State Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Florence Lotben, the state said Yar'Adua had no power to meddle in a crisis involving residents of Jos North Local Government Area.

She added in the affidavit which was attached to the originating summons that: "The right or power to conduct any inquiry into the said Jos crisis of 28th November 2008 belongs exclusively to the Plateau State Government, as a residual matter.

"The act of the Federal Government in setting up the said administrative panel of inquiry into the said Jos crisis is calculated to usurp the constitutional power vested in the Plateau State Government for reasons best known to the Federal Government."

Jang said that Yar'Adua did not consult him before setting up the panel to investigate events that took place within his jurisdiction.

Two days after filing the suit, the Plateau State Government went ahead to constitute its own panel of enquiry and appointed former Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Bola Ajibola (SAN), to head it. Also appointed as members of the panel were Reginia Abang, Daniel Gopet, Prof. A.T. Yaya, Assistant. Commissioner of Police (rtd), Napoleon Timkat.

Speaking on behalf of the state government about the court case, the state Commissioner for Information, Nuhu Gagara, said the government was interested in the interpretation of the provisions of the law over who has the power between the state and the Federal Government to carry out an investigation or probe of an event that happened in some parts of a local government in a given state in Nigeria.

Gagara, who spoke with newsmen in Jos, said the state government was not comfortable with the way and manner Ya'Adua and his wife, Turai, had treated the people and government of the state over the Jos North civil disturbances.

He lamented that most of the delegations the President sent to Jos over the crisis did not visit the governor as the chief security officer of the state to get first hand information from him.

He said members of the delegation visited only selected locations and had discussions with the leaders of the Hausa community before returning to Abuja to present a one-sided report to Yar'Adua.

"We cannot be treated as second class citizens in our own country by anybody, the rule of law must be followed as to who, between Governor Jang and President Yar'Adua, has the constitutional power to set up a probe panel on Jos North civil disturbances," Gagara said.

On the headship of the probe panel set up by President Yar'Adua, Gagara said the role allegedly played by Maj. -Gen. Emmanuel Abisoye in the trial and elimination of prominent Plateau sons in the military in the Dimka coup of 1976 was still fresh in the minds of Plateau people.

According to him, most of those sentenced to death and executed by the Abisoye military tribunal were innocent of the offences for which they were killed.

Gagara also faulted what he called the one-sided constitution of the panel by the President without recourse to any input from the governor of the state, warning that Plateau people would want the Federal Government to practice the rule of law in dealing with all concerned.

Ajibola, who is to chair the committee set up by the state, said Yar'Adua was wrong to have set up a committee to investigate the crisis because he lacked constitutional powers to do so.

Ajibola, a former judge at the International Court of Justice, said he had also accepted to serve on the committee.

Said Ajibola: "The Federal Government lacked the constitutional powers to set up the panel, and I have already accepted the offer (to serve in the panel set up by Jang) and we will do a good job."

President Yar'Adua's decision to send a probe panel to Jos may have been informed by calls from prominent Nigerians for a probe into the crisis that erupted after the local government elections on November 28 last year. Over 400 people were reported dead in that crisis.

One of those who sought Yar'Adua's intervention was the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III, who urged the President to prosecute masterminds of the mayhem. The Sultan said he would not rest until the Federal Government punishes the masterminds of the violence.

The Sultan said: "The Jos crisis is not over yet. It is still on because those responsible for the dastardly act have not been brought to book. I will not stop on the issue until everybody who is connected with the destructive action faces the music. They must be arrested and sentenced according to the laws of the land. I would not stop until justice is done on this matter."

Legal Considerations

Speaking on the issue, renowned constitutional lawyer, Prof. Awwalu Yadudu, said the Federal Government is not entirely powerless on the Jos crisis. He explained that although the Plateau State Government may have constitutional backing in challenging the setting up of the panel of inquiry by the Federal Government, the 1999 Constitution has adequate provisions that empower the Federal Government to take any necessary measure to protect the nation's internal security.

"The Federal Government is not entirely powerless, it can take necessary steps as in this case especially in the face of a state government that seems to be an accomplice and in total disregard to what happened such as the one in Plateau State. The Federal Government could have looked irresponsible if it did not act in taking the action of doing something in the face of the Plateau State's inaction and seeming lack of seriousness."

But Yadudu added: "There is also really a basis for the Plateau State government to challenge what the Federal Government has done, but whether the seriousness and implication of national security as vested on the Federal Government is enough to empower it is now left for the Supreme Court to decide. I am a practising lawyer and will hesitate to give definite explanation as to who is right or wrong since the case is before the Supreme Court. However, it is clear that even if the Plateau State government has that right, I believe they are only hiding behind that provision to deny the opportunity to find a lasting solution to the crisis."

Meanwhile, there are indications that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), may have begun plans - through its National Working Committee - to settle the feud between the President and the governor, both of whom are members of the party.

Meanwhile, the disagreement between Yar'Adua and Jang has grown more intense with Aso Rock's recent latest comment. Jang is evidently unmoved by any statement from Abuja just as Yar'Adua is convinced the Jos mayhem is a serious matter of national concern with many implications. As it is now, the court is the only arbiter that can stop either the state or Federal Government.

Court Of Public Opinion

Nigerians have spoken on the issue. Some held the view that Yar'Adua was encroaching on Jang's political territory while others argued that it was Jang that was at fault. Their reasons: Having failed to nip the crisis in the bud, before it escalated, he should now allow Yar'Adua to handle the matter. This group believes that Yar'Adua was right to toe the line of his predecessor, Olusegun Obasanjo, who at a point in the 2004 crisis wielded the big stick against former governor, Joshua Dariye, by declaring a state of emergency in the state.

Action Congress (AC) chieftain, Dele Kosoko, was among the people who faulted the recalcitrant steps Jang had taken on the matter. Said he: "The President was right to set up a committee to probe the crisis, because the governor had already shown that he is incapable of handling the matter, more so as it involves heavy loss of lives and property of a cross section of Nigerians living in the state.

Kosoko noted that Jang's admission that he was misled by a security report was evidence that his government does not possess the technical and tactical savvy to bring solution to the crisis. "How can a sitting governor exhibit the kind of passivity that Jang displayed during the crisis? Since his government appeared to be at a loss over how to deal with the situation, let him allow Yar'Adua to handle it," he said.

Some Nigerians are of the view that the major reason the supremacy war had reached the present level was because both Yar'Adua and Jang have vested political interest in the inquiry. They also claim that both are striving to ensure that their political and religious interests are not undermined when the report of the cause of the November 2008 politically-tinged, ethno-religious violence that led to bloodbath and wanton destruction of properties in Jos is eventually made public.

Lagos State Action Congress (AC) and the Campaign for Democracy (CD) expressed the belief that the motive behind the current face-off between Yar'Adua and Jang over who probes the crisis is more than meets the eye, and warned the two leaders of overheating the political system.

Lagos AC in a statement through its Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, described the grandstanding over the matter as needless and a desperate attempt to truncate the effort of getting to the root of the crisis. He described as shameful the pronouncements and actions of the two leaders since that unfortunate incident, saying it was an indication that the Peoples Democratic party (PDP) government at all levels does not value the lives of its citizens.

"We want to know the truth about what happened in Jos, whoever will dig deep enough to unravel the mysterious hands that snuffed lives out of innocent citizens of the state over mere local government election must be known," Igbokwe said, adding: "Whatever may be the political differences between the Federal and the Plateau State on the Jos crisis, the truth remains that three Youth Corpers were killed in the mayhem and we cannot sweep it under the carpet in the name of politics."

CD President, Joe Okei-Odumakin, said the matter was not within the jurisdiction of the Presidency, adding that the reason for Yar'Adua's intrusion was strictly political.

Her words: "There is a hidden interest beyond the question of security concerns or security of lives and property in Yar'Adua's action. There is an evidence of vested political interest in his action. The Constitution is very clear that investigating situations such as Jos disturbance is a state affair. There is nowhere in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that the Federal Government is empowered to intrude in such manner."

She advised both leaders to avoid actions capable of overheating the polity.

This view is not different from that given by the National Chairman of African Democratic Party (ADC), Ralph Nwosu, who also traced the Jos crisis and others before it to the overbearing nature of the PDP which has been in power since the return to democratic governance in the country.

Nwosu's argument: "If the Constitution was working, it was the state government that should have invited the Federal Government, and that would have happened only when the state government was no longer able to contain the situation. However, the problem we have in Nigeria is the problem of the PDP. The PDP has grown to become too overbearing that it can no longer learn from past lessons."

He added another dimension: "At the core of the problems we have had in this country recently is the trillions of naira the PDP has squandered since the inception of democracy in 1999. Thus, it has not been able to create jobs for restive youths and carry out reforms in the police. We in the ADC appeal to the Federal Government to demonstrate discipline, justice, and democracy in handling matters that concern Nigerians - this is the way to peace in Nigeria. The over-bearing nature of the establishment is threatening the unity of this country, we pray to God that the PDP may not administer the disintegration of this country, because this, it seems, is where they are heading towards."

Lawyer and rights advocate, Fred Agbaje, preferred to be analytical in his remarks on the issue. He believed that the bottom line was the preservation of peace since the absence of this could threaten the continued existence of the body politic. Both the federal and state governments, he observed, owed the nation the duty of doing what was most prudent and discreet to maintain the union.

He first faulted the PDP to which both Yar'Adua and Jang belonged. His words: "The disagreement highlights the lack of coherence in the PDP. This is why the PDP at the centre is in conflict with a PDP-controlled constituent."

"In any case, there is bound to be agreement and disagreement in democracy, but what is objectionable is when the disagreement breaches peace and tranquility, then the full wrath of the law and the instrumentality of the constitution must take precedence. Nigeria is founded on the principle of justice, equity and fair play - justice embedded in peace and tranquility. Any action or omission on the part of a constituent state that upsets the fundamental basis of our existence as a nation requires the intervention of the Federal Government. The Federal Government cannot fold its arms because what affects the peace and tranquility of a constituent state automatically affects the peace and tranquility of other states in the country."

A few Nigerians have even traced the different positions held by Yar'Adua and Jang to the ethnic backgrounds of both: Yar'Adua, they noted, is Fulani while Jang is Birom, and both tribes were involved in the November 28 conflagration. This is a just speculation.

Waiting For The Arbiter

Notwithstanding the speculations that have emerged, the national body of the Action Congress in its own reaction at the weekend, demanded the immediate arrest of the Chairman of Okene Council in Kogi State, Yahaya Karaku, over the 26 suspected mercenaries arrested in Jos. AC National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, said in a statement that there should be a thorough investigation to unravel any involvement of the Kogi State Government - and possibly other PDP states.

"Karaku, perhaps, because he is academically challenged, has been running his mouth without hindrance, saying the suspected mercenaries were indeed vigilantes from Bauchi but equipped by the Kogi State Government, which provided them with a bus to 'solve their mobility problem,'" Mohammed noted.

The court, as has already been noted, will decide - for good or ill - whose responsibility it is to handle the probe, and this decision will settle this and similar controversies that would arise in future.