Friday Lines (56) With

Dr Abubakar Alkali

26/3/25

It was hope rising when it was reported that the House of Representatives has included the removal of immunity (section 308) for the Vice President, Governors and their deputies in the proposed 39 constitutional amendments. This upbeat was cut short when the same house stated that it has removed this aspect from its proposed constitutional amendments.

It is hoped that the House of Representatives will reconsider its stand and bring back the removal of immunity as a constitutional amendment which Nigerians so much desire.

The removal of immunity will deepen Nigeria’s democracy and stop the blank cheque given to the President and state Governors to do whatever they like with public funds entrusted in their care.

Section 308 of the constitution, federal republic of Nigeria CFRN 1999 (as altered) has provided a blanket immunity for the President, Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors.
To strengthen Nigeria’s democracy and in the spirit of equity and fairness, the National Assembly should amend section 308 to remove immunity for the President, his vice, Governors and their deputies.

The House of Representatives should reconsider its stance to remove this amendment from the proposed 39 constitutional
amendments. Nigerians need this bill that will expunge section 308 and remove immunity for ALL public office holders.

Immunity promotes corruption at all levels particularly at the state level as governors receive all revenues meant for the state and do WHATEVER they want to do with it. There are very serious corruption allegations against some current state governors but these allegations cannot be determined in a court of law because immunity has shielded the governors from prosecution.

Immunity is a tool fabricated by the ruling elite to create a system of monopoly which gives them unfettered access to state resources and which doesn’t require any form of accountability from them.

State governors collect huge loans from commercial banks on behalf of their states and purposefully divert these loans to other purposes than those they are intended for. Governors still get away with anything under the sun. No thanks to immunity in section 308.

Immunity is undemocratic, it promotes corruption and other abuses of public office. It also encourages mediocrity and laziness. The immunity clause is a very serious cankerworm which can destroy any democracy. It should be removed entirely from Nigeria’s constitution.

A state governor steals N100 billion and walks the streets a freeman while another citizen steals oranges not worth N2,000 and he goes to jail. What a clear injustice. No democracy can thrive under immunity for anybody.

Immunity means a state Governor can commit any crime including murder under the sun and get away with it. Immunity means a Governor can fill up his pockets with public funds and get away with it. You can only catch him after his tenure by which time it is too late. Former Kogi governor Yahaya Bello, accused of enriching himself to the tune of about N100 BILLION is now a free man warming up to get into the senate to replace ‘suspended’ Sen Natasha Akpoti all because of immunity. You will be swimming in a sea of the confused if you think this will happen.

Most of the atrocities particularly corruption, abuse of office and direct stealing of public funds committed by state governors is because they know they are covered by immunity. A governor will think twice before taking what doesn’t belong to him if he knows he is open to prosecution and conviction.

Immunity is a blank cheque to the President, Vice President, Governors and their deputies to do whatever they want under the sun without the risk of being prosecuted by a court of competent jurisdiction.

The argument that without immunity, the President, VP, Governors and their deputies will be open to unnecessary attacks from perceived political enemies doesn’t hold water. In fact it is under the current immunity regime that the political office holders covered by immunity will be open to attacks as all sorts of unverified accusations will be thrown at them. But if immunity is removed, the courts can verify and deal with all accusations appropriately.

The immunity clause although meant for only the President, VP, Governors and their deputies has created a bandwagon effect as even senators, House of Representatives members, state houses of assembly members and other top political appointees now claim an unofficial immunity.

It should also be noted that immunity only covers prosecution. It doesn’t stop investigation but currently, no investigation is being carried out on the President, VP, Governors and their deputies even when there are serious allegations of corruption and abuse of office. They are spared from both investigations and prosecution all in the name of immunity.

To make matters worse, the judges are compromised as they operate under the whims and caprices of political office holders. It is a well known fact in Nigeria that the judiciary is a subservient to the executive arm while the legislature is an outpost of the executive. All because the executive controls disbursement of funds. All because of money.
This negates the principle of separation of powers as contained in sections 4,5 and 6 of the 1999 constitution.

Recently, the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT) Mr Nyesom Wike ‘donated’ luxury houses to select judges in high brow Gusape choice area in Abuja.
Clearly, this was a buy-off strategy meant to get the judiciary in the pocket of the executive.
Without a second thought, the judges collected the largess from Wike and took possession of the houses for free. In fact the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kekere-Ekun was the so-called ‘special guest of honour’ at the ceremony to mark the sharing of the houses. Unbelievable!
What else do you need to know about Nigeria’s compromised judiciary? How can democracy in Nigeria thrive under its extremely weak judiciary? While the legislature is the hub of democracy, the judiciary is the medulla oblongata of any democracy that needs to be nonpartisan and objective at all times. Most of the judgements churned out by Nigeria’s judiciary today are political and this is unfortunate. It doesn’t help anybody.

A case in sight is after the judgment on the Kano gubernatorial election when the ruling NNPP party ‘thanked’ President Tinubu for ‘not interfering’ with the judgement. Incredible!
This means that the President has a choice to interfere and sway the judgement as he deems fit.
What a democracy!

Immunity also scandalises Nigeria’s electoral system as it precludes the chances of electing genuine leaders for our dear country. People borrow money to contest elections and they use immunity to steal public funds and pay back the loans.

Immunity has created a BANDWAGON EFFECT in our political system such that ministers, senators, members House of Representatives and other top level public office holders hide under immunity to dodge the law, albeit they do not enjoy constitutional immunity.

The earlier immunity is removed from Nigeria’s constitution, the better for a strong democracy and sustainable development in our dear country, Nigeria.