By Chris O Maduka
ON THE JUDGEMENT OF THE APPEAL COURT ON MAZI NNAMDI KANU’S CASE, THE SEEMING FLAGRANT DISOBEDIENCE OF THE COURT DECISION AND THE CONTEMPLATION OF RETROACTIVELY RESSURECTING OLD SETTLED CHARGES:
MY RESPONSE:
The response and reaction of the Attorney General and his prosecution team does not hold water.
The issue in contention is the Jurisdiction or the lack of it. By the way of his extraordinary rendition, the Government lost Jurisdiction. They broke the law and violated MNK’s human and constitutional rights.
Now, if this be the case as seemed to have been proven by MNK’s legal defense team: does it matter? …
Now, what played out in the Appeal court and the decision there-in is simply an indictment on the Attorney General of the federation led prosecution team. The Ozekhome, Ejiofor, Ejimakor led defense team with the backing of the relevant laws and subsisting precedence and diplomatic imperatives successfully convinced the learned Judges that the Government lacked the Jurisdiction to proceed with prosecution of MNK whatever allegations they leveled against him.
The remedy to this will be to return him to Kenya and begin the process of extradition according the existing international law and diplomatic protocols, if they are desirous of bringing any further charges on MNK post the Appeal court judgement that pulled the rugs from under the feet of the Prosecution team. So on what else are they standing to attempt to prosecute him on other charges? The lack of Jurisdiction covers all places and every where in Nigeria.
It seems that the prosecution team and quite frankly great many Nigeria officials have this weird perception that the law, the law enforcement agents, and even judicial officers including the Judges are there to do their bidding and protect them. They fail to realize that the opposite is the case in all sane and viable societies. The law protects the citizens more against the potential excesses and tyranny of the government as it seems apparent in this MNK case. I guess that’s why they are less diligent in the way and manner they proceed with the authority vested on them. Little wonder they often lose so many cases where the courts and Judges are bold and courageous enough to discharge the duty of oat of their offices with little difference to judicial activism for the government .
So this path to his further prosecution has been effectively closed as it was defective and illegal. You cannot break the law to uphold the law, including the government and her agents cannot break the law to uphold the law. By the way and manner MNK was brought to this Jurisdiction he has been denied some of the legal rights and protection under the Doctrine of speciality.
Besides all that, the government has a very weak case hence they’ve been on a fishing expedition. Inventing and making up rules as they go since we have a rotten system where even judicial officers behave like outlaws by flaunting the decisions of the court and weakening the system and entity that they ought to ferociously guard against erosion of trust and confidence as an entity that ought to be final arbiter and last hope for the citizens.
Some of the charges the Attorney General brought back when MNK was illegally brought back from Kenya have been properly adjudicated and decided as the court threw out those charges abinitio. But in their desperation they resurrected those charges once again in what seriously amounts to abuse of the court system and even a double Jeopardy. If the presiding Judge was not being partisan, bringing back those charges should’ve prompted the Judge to sanction the Attorney General for the abuse of the court and judicial process.
Bottomline, is that in their misguided zeal to get MNK and silence the Igbo and the Southern agitation they threw caution to winds and went into what borders on constitutional crises and embarrassment of that very prestigious profession, and a very viable arm of Governance and the society.
MNK case was politically motivated and in the end it must end through political settlement which am sure must have commenced with this resounding victory at the Appelate court.
C.O.M ✍🏾
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