Since the inception of the current democratic dispensation, the country has witnessed the registration of 91 political parties. But, there have been concern over the relevance of many of the parties in the political scene, more so when not more than three have consistently been having their members elected into various positions at federal, state and local levels.
Therefore, questions have been raised on the reason behind the continued registration of more political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
In this interview with our correspondent, AYODELE OLALERE, a former Attorney General in Ekiti State, Mr. Oyewole Gboyega Sanmi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, spoke on why INEC should reduce the number of political parties in the country. He also spoke on local government autonomy, legality of withholding Certificate of Return by INEC, limiting terms for lawmakers and other issues.
Does the law support moving Election Petition Tribunal sitting out of jurisdiction?
In my view, the movement of an election tribunal to another jurisdiction or location is regular and proper upon due inauguration of the tribunal by the appropriate authority. This is in line with the decision of the Supreme Court in Nyesome Wike’s case, which has been followed in several other cases, where the governorship election tribunal was moved from Rivers State to Abuja, citing security reasons. The law provides that each state of the federation shall have one or more election tribunal but the location/venue was not considered in the statute.
The provision of Section 285 (2) of the 1999 Constitution leaves this issue open. It is a fact that election and election petitions are often contentious and heated, which often lead to break down of law and order. Therefore, sitting of election tribunals out of jurisdiction for security reasons most especially for the safety of the tribunal members and witnesses is a valid ground provided it is approved by the tribunal. In most of the known cases, parties always agreed on the movement to safer and more conducive venues
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How best do you think INEC could reduce the numbers of political parties?
The powers of INEC are basically statutory. They are derived from the constitution and other enabling laws. It is the fundamental right of citizens to form or belong to any political party of their choice in accordance with Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and further affirmed by the Supreme Court in INEC V. BALARABE MUSA.
However, pursuant to Section 78 (7a) (i)(ii) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended), INEC is empowered to de-register political parties on the grounds of breach of any of the requirements for registration and for failure to win presidential or governorship election or a seat in the National or state assembly elections.
INEC has been statutorily empowered to control and regulate the affairs of political parties under the enabling statute. And it is my view that such powers should be enforced to the letter in a bid to prevent a hopeless case of multiplicity of political parties without any meaningful contribution to the electioneering process as witnessed during the 2019 general elections.
What is your take on abolition of death sentence?
As against my personal opinion, the law remains the law. When I was Attorney General of Ekiti State, I was invited by the Federal High Court, as amicus curiae to express my opinion on the subject matter. It was Hon. Justice Ajakaye (rtd.) of the Federal High Court. I stated clearly that by virtue of my stand as a believer in deterrence than retributive justice, death sentence should be abolished from our laws. The extant provisions of the law that mandates death sentence for some categories of offences have failed to yield any meaningful results.
Imagine a case where a 20-year-old boy was charged to court for robbing with a knife without any visible harm or injury to the victim, but was sentenced to death when obviously he may not be conscious of his action, as a result of his age and susceptibility to delinquency associated with his age-bracket. I was able to use my office, as the Attorney General in consultation with the Council of the State on prerogative of mercy to recommend committal of death sentence to life imprisonment for persons sentenced to death. Finally, we may have to resort to the amendment of the law, as it stands now for us to change the position of things.
The issue of Land Use Act has been of concern. Do you think it should be abolished?
I want to believe that the Land Use Act is proper, right and good for the country. It is widely believed that the Act complicates things, but personally I am yet to see how it does. The Land Use Act makes the use and ownership of a land very predictable and certain. If all the land is vested in the government, government can use part of it for public purposes and also enable individuals acquire lands through the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy. The problem is not with the law but application of the law by the public officers. If they can act strictly and honestly, I do not see any problem with the law. The act of revoking certificate of occupancy citing overridden public interest only to re-allocate such land to private persons, cronies or allies of the government is a major impediment which I believe must be addressed as enunciated by the Supreme Court in Lawson v. Ogun State government.
The Land Use Act in ensuring that citizens are not unduly deprived of ownership of their land also provides for payment of compensation after such revocation. But unfortunately, most state governments have deliberately failed to pay them.
Do you subscribe to the call for the review of the academic qualifications of members of the legislature?
Yes, I think it is sufficient. What legislators need is to have a knowledge of what the people require and not intelligence. A man may be educated but lacking the requisite knowledge of what his people want or their expectations from government while another man may have no educational background but having lived within his immediate constituency, he can adequately make known the demands of his people and protect it where it may likely be infringed by any legislation or programme of government. Therefore, I advocate knowledge as a yardstick for public office as against educational qualification presently contained in the 1999 Constitution.
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Do you support the call for limiting the term lawmakers can serve?
I do not support limiting the term lawmakers can serve and spend in the legislature. The important point to be considered is whether he or she has the affirmation of his people who continue to vote him into the legislative house. However, I support part-time membership of the legislature and I also believe that they should be entitled to sitting allowances only, thereby enabling them to also play their respective roles in nation building. The legislature as presently constituted in Nigerian politics, starting from the councilors in the local government to the assembly members in the state Houses of Assembly and then the members of the National Assembly are grossly overpaid. I feel that their earnings should be based on the hours they spent on their assignments on daily basis. This way, the violence and the do or die contest would reduce considerably.
Is it legal to allocate oil block to individuals?
The law is settled that allocation of oil blocks (often called Oil Prospecting Licence or Oil Mining Leases) is within the exclusive preserve of the Minister of Petroleum Resources. However, the allocation of oil block and licence may be granted only to a company incorporated in Nigeria under the Companies and Allied Matters Act or any corresponding law pursuant to Section 2 (2) of the Petroleum Act, Cap P10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
This position is good because it accommodates individuals with the necessary financial strength that are behind corporate bodies, as oil exploration activities is capital intensive, which takes it beyond the reach of just anybody. I also support the recent clamour for allocation of oil blocks to states of the federation as this will enable them raise adequate funds needed to drive the aims, objectives and programmes of government. Do not forget that oil and other minerals are our common wealth. I also believe that the process should be made more open and transparent.
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What is your view on local government autonomy?
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Promulgation) Decree1989 was the only constitution which expressly gave autonomy to the local government council as deduced from Article 5, Chapter VIII, Part I, and Fourth Schedule, Part I of the draft Constitution. The laudable provisions of the 1989 Constitution were unfortunately deleted/omitted from the 1999 Constitution, which made the local government subservient to state governments under the present Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, arrangement. It is an established fact that the local government is the closest level of government to the people at the grassroots, and its autonomy is essential in bringing the dividends of democracy and government to the doorstep of the people.
Is it legal to withhold the Certificate of Return after a person has been elected in an election?
The law is trite that a candidate, who is declared winner in an election duly conducted by INEC is entitled to a Certificate of Return duly issued by the electoral body within seven (7) days of declaring the result of the election. The issuance of the Certificate of Return is mandatory and does not give room to INEC to decide otherwise. It can, therefore, be deduced from the copious provision of Section 75 (1) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) that issuance of certificate of returns is subject to the declaration of a winner in the election by INEC, and that INEC may not have any power to withhold the certificate of returns of a candidate, who has been declared winner in an election, as the provision of Section 75(1) appears mandatory.
If the process is flawed, INEC is required to direct that fresh elections be conducted where elections were not held. Elections are held at polling stations, and subsequent collation remains only an arithmetic exercise. This matter may be subjudice hence; I do not want to say more. The courts will direct as appropriate.
As an associate of Chartered Institutes of Arbitrators, how do you think arbitration can aid dispensation of justice?
I am personally of the view that parties should resort to arbitration or generally alternative disputes mechanisms for obvious reasons, which include the facts of the congestion of the regular courts that often resorts in the slow-down of the adjudication process. A further factor is acrimony. There is a popular saying that you cannot go to court and remain friends. This obliterated in arbitration proceedings. Nigeria as a developing economy desires to attract investors. The terrain would be made less tedious, more predictable and friendly. This is what arbitration offers. Thankfully, the new Lagos Civil Procedure Rules 2019 favours this position where it clearly states in its overriding objectives that the court shall further the overriding objectives by actively managing cases and actively managing cases includes mandating the parties to use an alternative dispute resolution mechanism(ADR) where the court considers it appropriate and facilitating the use of such procedure.
