Elder statesman, Edwin Clark has written an open letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kudirat Kereke-Ekun on the political crises in Rivers State, urging her to write her name in gold.
Clark in the letter also warned the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun of playing with a keg of gunpowder if he fails to ignore concerns of genuine Nigerians who have ensured the oneness of the nation.
The letter reads,
I sincerely apologise should this letter cause you any form of embarrassment, especially because it was only not too long ago that I wrote an open letter to congratulate you on your appointment as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and to call your kind attention and urgent action to salvage our judiciary system from hijackers and money bags, who are bent on using our common patrimony to oppress and intimidate citizens, especially the case of Rivers State.
The Rivers State crisis, which has engulfed the entire state and even part of the Niger Delta region, does not seem to be abating.
Firstly, I wish to commend your immediate action of setting up a panel of the National Judicial Council to probe the judges involved in the various cases in Rivers State. I also
wish to commend you for summoning the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for
questioning. These, I must say, are all moving in the right direction. I am sure the panel is about to submit its report to you if it has not already done so, because we read from the news that the panel was to submit its report in one week.
Also, there seems to be some light in the dark tunnel. For instance, we heard of the heartwarming judgement in the case of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen. I had written about the unfair and unjust treatment meted out to him in his memoirs, Brutally Frank. I thank God that I have been vindicated.
What Nigeria needs right now is a strong structure—a nation with rules that will bind everybody, no matter who is involved. Today, people use public money to intimidate and harass people to coerce them to do their bidding because they are in a position where they have the opportunity to control the funds. For instance, governors do not have roles in building houses for judges. This ought to be the duty of the National Judicial Council (NJC), because if this is allowed, such governors or persons will see themselves as being in a position to control the body.
This is exactly the feeling and thinking of the majority of Nigerians today, with the actions of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who just took it upon himself to build houses for Judges in the nation’s capital. Already, it is alleged that he has a strong grip on the nation’s judiciary. Unfortunately, Your Lordship was seen, taking part in the commissioning of the take-off of the project. This not ought to be so. Growing up, I witnessed when Judges were hardly seen in public or involved in socialising. I am privileged by the grace of God to have known about most of the CJNs from Adetokunbo Ademola, Teslim Elias, Atanda Williams, George Sodeinde Sowemimo, Ayo Irikefe, and Mohammed Bello, just to name a few.
This is not to say Judges should live in seclusion, but it is so that they will not be
unnecessarily exposed to doing things not in tandem with their professional ethics, that they are not pushed to delivering compromising or patronising judgements. My Lord the Chief Justice of Nigeria, need I remind you of the popular English jurist, Willaim Blackstone’s formulation, which states that “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than one innocent suffers.” Unfortunately, today, one is shocked to read and hear the kind of judgments being churned out by some of our Judges. Although these ones are few, their actions have an ugly dent on the entire judiciary. It is particularly worrisome that, from the look of things, some Judges have been reserved for the Rivers State cases. And when these courts handle a matter, even a non-lawyer can rightly predict where the pendulum will swing.
I urge you, my dear CJN, once again, to write your name in gold. This is a lifetime opportunity to say no to transactional judgements.
I want to repeat that the case delivered by Justice James Omotoso in Rivers State in Suit No. FAC/ABJ/CS/1613/2023 was fraudulent because the former Speaker, Rt. Hon. Martins Amawhule and the 27 other defectors did not inform the court of their defection from PDP to APC, an action that made them lose their seats at the Rivers State House of Assembly immediately and automatically, on 11 December 2023, when they announced and displayed their defection, were no longer members of the House from 11 December. And the case in Justice Omotosho’s court died a natural death from that date till today.
By defecting to another political party other than that which sponsored them to the House, Rt. Hon. Amaewhule and the 27 other members immediately and automatically lost their seats; there are no two ways about it. Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution is very clear on it. The Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, who today is alleged to be the sponsor of most of the cases in Rivers State, boasting that he has the best lawyers, shouted his voice hoarse when people like Engr. Dave Umahi, then Governor of Ebonyi State, and others defected from the PDP to the APC. Why is he singing a new song today? Has the Constitution he was quoting then changed?
Strangely and interestingly, the former Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, and his 27 other colleagues who defected and who no longer have the locus standi or capacity to instate an action as members of the House in accordance with Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution as Amended went to another court in Suit No.
FAC/ABJ/CS/1681/2023, not through the ongoing case of Justice Omotosho, and then sued INEC and other bodies in the Court of Justice Donatus Okorowo on Monday, 13 December 2023. For some reasons best known to His Lordship, he cooperated with them, including that as presiding Judge over a matter, he directed INEC not to take any further action as a result of the defection of the non-existing Plaintiffs. This is quite baffling. Thereafter, he was promoted to the Federal Court of Appeal. and handed over the case to Justice Peter Lifu, who later abandoned the case and proceeded on his annual vacation.
Justice Lifu returned to Abuja on the 29 of October 2024 and went to court for the first time on 30 October 2024. But the plaintiffs, headed by the former SpeakerMartins Amaewhule, who was also the number one Plaintiff in Justice Omotosho’s court on behalf of the other co-defectors, deposed to an affidavit in paragraph 9 in Justice Okorowo’s court, where he admitted that he and his 27 other colleagues had defected to APC because of problems or various disagreements in the PDP. But they then failed to realise that it is what you said during the defection on 11 December 2023 that is material and not what you said later.
It is a very serious offence indeed for any Nigerian under the constitution to lie under the oath, which he takes as permitted by the law. The naked meaning for lying on oath is perjury, and the police must call such a criminal and the defaulter to order, but no, because Nyesom Wike is above the law, he is untouchable. He will make inflammatory statements on live television and other forms of media, yet nothing
happens to him.
The perjury case arose as a result of the inconsistency in the facts deposed, in the
affidavit.
