DEAL OR NO DEAL?

It's barely eight sennights ago since the conclusion of the 2019 Nigeria Elections but seems like a millennium ago, and thankfully, things appear to have calmed down a little but for the small matter of Atiku’s challenge at the Tribunal. This, actually, is the raison d'être of my little observation and comment today. Though not quite attuned to the whole legalistic procedure at the Tribunal (me being semi-illiterate in matters of law), a couple of developments caused me to blink at a rate of knots.

The big question which is at loggerheads with my sanity is “are the legal practitioners representing both sides of the argument the crème de la crème of the legal profession in Nigeria?” Were that to be so, it would take a thousand aeons before the legal profession in Nigeria catches up with the rest of the civilized world. Little wonder the socio-political problems in Nigeria have been incalculably exacerbated by the pervasive tomfooleries in the country’s legal profession. Mind you, this is not to bracket all legal practitioners in the same corner, as there are still quite a few doing the best they can in very difficult circumstances, but the various legal bodies need to step up to the plate and, as a matter of urgency, clean the Augean stables. Failing to expeditiously do this can only ensure improprieties to further metastasize in the rank and file of the profession and continue to bring infamy to the ‘noble’ profession. Onnoghen is a case in point, and only God knows how many corrupt lawyers and judges are operating like auctioneers whose questionable services are only available to the highest bidder. Their clammy hands and bottomless pockets are always at the ready for the conveyor belt of douceurs being operated by the very corrupt and the inordinately greedy. When the concept of ‘do ut des’ is employed only in strict matters of the law, rather than in the ‘transactional representation’ sense, the mud that has stubbornly stuck to the profession would begin to be lifted and true justice would begin to prevail, and the profession would indeed be noble again. Isn't it about time, then, we got rid of 'Deal Or No Deal?' lawyers and judges?

Now, to the matter at hand. Atiku, through his legal representation, petitioned that Buhari, the INEC, and the APC robbed him of victory at the polls. He claimed to have outscored Buhari by at least a couple million legally cast votes, citing the INEC server as his source. The INEC has repudiated this claim and insisted it does not have a server via which voting results were transmitted. The existence or not of a server is the bone of contention here. To me, as a layman, the onus is on Atiku to prove the existence of a server, and not the INEC to prove the non-existence of one. Straightforward enough, in my opinion.

On Buhari’s and APC’s part, they considered Atiku’s claim to be rebuffable since Atiku is not even a Nigerian, and by extension, he was even not eligible to stand for election in the first instance. How this constitutes a rational defence of their position beggars belief! If this line of defence were to hold water, a large swathe of the eastern and south-eastern parts of Nigeria would have large populations who would not be qualified to be called Nigerians. The major strand of their argument in this respect is that Atiku was born in an area that used to be part of Cameroon, but then became part of Nigeria. If that were indeed the case, wouldn’t those former Cameroonians have become Nigerians by default? You see, instead of them defending their victory at the ballot box with credible and legally sustainable arguments, they resorted to pettifogging as if this approach would serve as a roborant to their defence.

Both sides are supposed to be ably represented by eminent lawyers! Where is the relevance in their eminence? This was why I ranted against the legal profession earlier on. The opaqueness in the profession is robbing conscientious lawyers of well-deserved prominence, robbing the general population of true justice and destroying the very fabric of society.

In conclusion, for Nigeria to begin to overcome its tsuris and exit the darkness of its archaic existence, the legal profession has to purge phlyarologists and philargyrists from among its ranks so as to send a long overdue message to the venal skunks who are in politics only to pick the pockets of Nigerians and deny them their commonwealth. Nigeria is behindhand in many areas of human existence and enterprise, but without the basic structure of the law upheld, no notable progress can be made. The long and short of it is that the future relevance of Nigeria is in the hands of the third arm of government and its constituent elements. It's as simple as that.