The Cattle Rearer Chronicles — When Impunity becomes the norm

True democracy is a utopic idea. The belief that we can have a system of government that represents the active participation and aspirations of all is a far fetched idea for a myriad of reasons. Differences in economic standing, education and access do not a level field make and for these reasons and more, we settle for a semblance of democracy. This semblance comforts us because it is said to represent the will of the majority and we put in checks and balances to make up for human fallibility as well as the fact that we know our system is imperfect.

However as imperfect as our democracy is, we defend it because we know that the alternative is unacceptable. We are willing to live with majority rule even if its a 50.1% to 49.9% split rather than accept the rule of the minority or even worse, the rule of one individual. In countries like ours (Nigeria) where we have martyrs who have laid down their lives in the pursuit of democracy (MKO and Kudirat Abiola, Alfred Rewane, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua), it is especially important that we guard our democracy jealously so that “the labour of heroes past shall never be in vain” as written in our national anthem. Impunity should therefore be an alien word in our lexicon and must never be allowed to take a place. Impunity is defined as freedom from ​punishment for something that has been done that is ​wrong or ​illegal (Cambridge English Dictionary — American version). Emphasis here is on illegal as this is not meant to elicit a moral debate on right versus wrong. The basis for determination of legality is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and all other laws that are in effect. Failure to obey the Constitution or our laws to the letter constitutes impunity and in allowing this to happen we have in effect terminated our democracy.

The Nigerian state is currently in a situation where the flagrant disregard for the laws of the land have become the norm, especially by those we have entrusted to be guardians. There is no institution of state that seems impervious to this malaise; orders by the court are ignored willfully by law enforcement agents and this is justified on live television by a democratically elected president! The Nigerian Army murders 347 citizens in Zaria and no one has been brought to book (the leader of the movement remains incarcerated for over 3 months without being charged to court).

The Code of Conduct Tribunal has become a Kangaroo court with its Chairman overseeing proceedings while having a corruption case hanging over his head. The Department of State Security detained a member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly with no charge, almost leading to his death (a judge has recently ordered that the sum of N5Million be paid to the lawmaker as damages…..a laughable recompense). Police and Army personnel have resorted to the use of deadly force to handle peaceful protests resulting in casualties in South East (IPOB supporters) and South South (University of Port Harcourt student(s)). In the 17 years since our return to democracy it is hard to remember this level of impunity across all spheres of nationhood.

While it is easy to focus on politics, my views tend to be more economic in focus. The impunity in this space is getting to alarming proportions and what started as a basis for jokes is now becoming a full blown cause for concern. We have heard the President say matter of factly that decision making on the value of the Naira rests with him despite the fact that CBN Act of 2007 in Section 16 clearly states “The exchange rate of the Naira shall be determined, from time to time, by a suitable mechanism devised by the Bank for that purpose.” In effect by suborning this process and imposing his will on the determination of value of the Naira, the president aided by the CBN governor is acting outside of the law.

However this has not been the only infraction thus far, the bailouts granted to the states in August/September 2015 appear to have also been contrary to the provisions of the CBN Act 2007. President Buhari is said to have agreed to support the states to enable them pay outstanding salaries. To achieve this, the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) and CBN worked together with CBN providing Excess Crude Account (ECA) backed loans to the states, see here for details of who got what. These loans were granted over a 20 year tenor (only Ogun state asked for a 10 year tenor) with funds disbursed through commercial banks. The issue here is the CBN Act 2007 does not allow the CBN to grant credit facilities for that long, Section 29 subsection 1 is quite clear on this as follows:

29 — -(1) The Bank may — -

(d) grant advances to any authority — — -
 (i) for fixed periods not exceeding one year at a rate of interest
at least one per cent above the Bank’s monetary policy rate

(2) Paragraphs (d) to (f) of Sub-section (1) of this section relate to any
authority of the Federal Government, State Government, Local Government
or two or more State Governments including an interim authority established
for such purpose by any law in operation in Nigeria.

As clear as day.

That this was done with no comment by the National Assembly shows how dire the situation is with a legislative body hobbled by the fact that its leader is being tried for false declaration to the Code of Conduct Bureau.

Lets assume the loan was from FG directly with CBN acting as intermediary, the Constitution provides for this in Chapter VI part 1 C Section 164 as follows:

164. (1) The Federation may make grants to a State to supplement the revenue of that State in such sum and subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.

What this means is that the President cannot give out a loan or advance to any state without concurrence by the National Assembly. So when was this done? By also exchanging the state bank loans for FGN bonds, the FG had in effect become the creditor for the states without National Assembly assent.

The whole bailout package was conducted on the basis of deliberations at a National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, the NEC being made up of governors, vice president, CBN governor and Ministers with impact on the economy…..essentially they agreed to grant loans to themselves with no representative of the people having a say!

The Executive arm is running amok and acting as though we are in an autocracy. To add insult to injury, the FG decided this week to defer the March 2016 bailout deductions for the states to enable them pay salaries as oil prices had been low for January and February 2016 which led to low revenue available for sharing, see here. Not only has the president asked CBN to grant bailout loans to states with 20 year tenor, the president is also able to dictate how and when the loan gets repaid. Again this has come out of deliberations by the NEC with no input from NASS. Surely this level of impunity cannot be allowed to carry on for another 3 years?

One wonders where all the activists, civil societies and labour unions have gone. Have they all bought into the change such that they are willing to be silent despite the obvious illegality that is fast becoming the norm? Did Nigeria descend so low that the people are willing to forgo our hard won democracy and cling to the “we need a strong hand to fix the mess” mantra? Does an uncertain end justify these means? Will we find our way back if this is allowed to continue?

I daresay no…..Nigeria will not find its way back if she loses her soul. Our democracy may be imperfect but it’s ours and we must protect and nurture it…..and accept the inevitable mistakes we make along the way as part of the evolutionary process. We must say no to impunity and the cult of the lone strong man……it will take us back several steps and we don’t ever want to go back.