Barr. Roland Oweilaemi Pereotubo is the President, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, and President-General, All Ethnic Nationalities in the Niger Delta. In this interview with SIMPLE IKEM, he spoke on the recent suspension of Justice Walter Onnoghen, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), among other issues.
TNE: What is your reaction to the current travails of the CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen? Do you think his suspension by President Muhammadu Buhari is right?
The answer is capital NO. Buhari has no power under our constitution to unilaterally suspend even a judge, not to talk of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). Such power is vested in the National Judicial Council (NJC). As for the removal of the CJN, Section 292(1) clearly provides for the procedure the CJN can be removed.
For the President to have such power of removing him, the NJC must first recommend his suspension to the President, who shall forward same to the National Assembly for the Senate to pass a resolution which should be approved by a two-third majority of the members of that House.
In this case, there is no recommendation by the NJC to the President requesting for the CJN’s suspension. In the same vein, the President has not sent the recommendation, if any, to the Senate for their legislative action as provided by the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Also, the NJC has not recommended anybody to Buhari to be appointed as Acting CJN before the President unconstitutionally appointed the Acting CJN. That is a rape of our Constitution. What Buhari has done is a constitutional sacrilege. This is a coup against democracy and the rule of law.
The rash action of Buhari in carrying out this sacrilegiously ill-conceived decision in removing the CJN despite courts injunctions, including the Court of Appeal, shows our constitution is now in abeyance.
TNE: The South-South Governors recently vowed to ensure that Justice Onnoghen was not removed as CJN. Does their view represent those of all South-South stakeholders? If so, now that he has been suspended, what do you think South-South stakeholders should do?
The South-South governors spoke the minds of the entire South-South people. All stakeholders in the region endorsed and strongly supported what the governors have said. President Buhari’s action is a direct assault on our people. His provocative act against our region may compel us to review our status as a corporate partner in the Nigerian project.
Now that Mr. President has demonstrated his insensitivity towards the South-South people, we shall definitely meet to take a position. The world will hear from us. Nothing is more annoying than this provocative act. President is dividing this country. We fear that his actions may jeopardise our fledgling democracy.
TNE: The Federal Government has said that the Ogoni Clean-Up has started. To what extent is this true?
The much I know about the Ogoni clean-up, the Federal Government’s claim is a ruse. The exercise has not commenced. The claim of the government is part of its image laundering propaganda. I don’t know where the government has started the exercise.
TNE: The United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) have warned of dire consequences if the 2019 elections are rigged. What is your take on their warnings?
These warnings are coming more than expected. They should start the process of visa restrictions on those political players who want to rig the elections by all means. The foreign travel ban should have started with Osun fraudulent election. All the perpetrators, including the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Osun State should have been placed on travel ban.
At least that would have served as deterrence to those who are planning to rig these forth-coming general elections. My appeal to the UK and the US governments is that they should extend the ban to previous controversial elections conducted under Buhari’s watch. Nigerians are in strong support of the world powers.
TNE: How would you react to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent warning that President Muhammadu Buhari and his party plan to rig the coming elections?
Former President Obasanjo is not far from the truth. All fingers are pointing to the direction that President Buhari is conniving with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rig the elections. As Baba Obasanjo has rightly said, there are dire consequences in rigging the elections. Nigeria will be on fire if these anti-democratic forces succeed in subverting the will of the people.
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Nigerians are ready to resist them. The elections must reflect the will of the people if Nigeria must survive political upheaval. These incoming elections are not only going to define and reshape our democracy, they will also define our union as a corporate entity.
TNE: Do you see this current Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Professor Mahmood Yakubu as capable of giving Nigeria credible, free and fair elections this year?
The outcome of Edo, Ekiti and Osun states gubernatorial elections have eroded the confidence of Nigerians on the present INEC. The commission’s undue romance with the ruling government has also made matters worse. To many Nigerians, the present INEC under Mahmood Yakubu is colluding with the APC to rig the elections in favour of the latter’s candidates. A particular reference is where the commission has appointed Mrs. Amina Zakari, Buhari’s niece as head of the collation centre amidst public uproar.
INEC is putting our democracy into a very big risk. The Commission should resist the temptation of being pressured by the ruling government to do its biddings. That will in no doubt set the country on war path. The survival of democracy is anchored on INEC’s impartiality to allow Nigerians freely make their choice at the polls.
TNE: With the recent killings by the Boko Haram, especially the killing of Nigerian soldiers by the insurgents, would you say the Federal Government truly winning the war against insurgency?
The war against terrorists is losing traction. The government is at the receiving end of the scourge. Sorry to say this. It seems that insurgents are winning the war. The government has failed in its vow to win the war against terror within three months after assumption into office. Its proclamation of technically defeating the insurgents and subsequently the acclaimed total eradication of the Islamic militants are ruse. With what is happening in the North-East on a daily basis, it is so clear that the government was lying about its acclaimed victories over the Islamic sects.
The government should not use propaganda to prosecute the war. Lies and image laundering cannot win this war. Such postures are only ridiculing our international image. The government should probe the various budgetary allocations to the defence ministry. In spite of huge sums of money going into the ministry for the procurement of arms, the reports we are getting about soldiers at the warfront are embarrassing. A change of guards is needed at this critical time. I think people are just playing politics with the lives of Nigerians.