A mild drama unfolded yesterday at State House after Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, almost came to blows and had to be separated during a meeting of the National Council of State, presided at by President Goodluck Jonathan. The Council, comprising the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of House of Representatives, 36 governors, former Heads of State and Presidents and serving and former Chief Justices of the Federation is Nigeria’s highest advisory body.
The reason for the street fight that almost erupted between Oshiomhole and Adoke was the manner the Federal Government handled the investigation into the murder of Oshiomhole’s Private Secretary, Mr. Olaitan Oyerinde. Presidential sources told Huhuonline.com that during the pre-meeting interactions, Adoke left his seat and moved to meet Oshiomhole and sought his attention informing him that the Edo state Attorney-General was ignorant of the role he was supposed to play in the case. An open argument then ensued between them over the handling of Oyerinde’s death.
The ensuing feistiness of the altercations almost degenerated into fisticuffs as the two men stood chest to chest in the full glare of stunned Ministers, Governors and other Council of State members. The timely intervention of Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and Jonathan’s, Chief of Staff, Mike Oghiadomhe and the President’s Speech Writer, Matts Aikhionbare, prevented what was looking like a school yard fight inside the hallowed Council chambers.
Oyerinde was murdered as Oshiomhole was campaigning for a second term and since then; the police and the State Security Service have been trading accusations and blaming each other over while the investigations into the case have stalled. A new controversy erupted recently, when it was learnt that the case file was actually submitted to the Attorney-General of the Federation rather than the Attorney-General of Edo state. Since then, Governor Oshiomhole had not hidden his anger over the shoddy handling of the case. The Governor said Adoke had a lot of secrets he was trying to bottle up in the case stressing that he would continue to fight till those behind the gruesome murder are brought to book.
After the meeting, Oshiomhole initially refused to speak to journalists about the incident, but later spoke up when he was told it was already an open issue. On why he engaged Adoke, Governor Oshiomhole accused the Minister of viewing the life of the murdered Oyerinde as a disposable commodity. Oshiomhole also accused Adoke of lacking respect for the office of the Governor. He said the case wrongly referred to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice by a Deputy Inspector-General of Police, instead of the State’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and that the Minister was supposed to know better.
According to Governor Oshiomhole, Mr. Adoke was saying that “my Attorney-General should have known what to do, that he has nothing to do with the matter. “I simply asked him who referred the matter to him. Was it my Attorney General? The matter was referred to him by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police.
“If the Deputy Inspector-General of Police referred a matter that he ought to have referred to the State to the Federal Attorney General, who is the one dragging him into the matter? Who is the one politicizing the matter? Should we assume that the DIG did not know that an offense of murder is a state offense? And if he knows it’s a state offense why did he refer it to the Federal Attorney General? So, if there is any complaint he should complain to the DIG who referred the case to him.
Mr. Oshiomhole noted that he was an elected official and not appointed and thus must be accorded that respect. “I am a governor, I’m elected; he has to respect my office even if he doesn’t respect my person. In any event, we are dealing with factual issues,” he said recalling that the state government had earlier complained about the transfer of the case to the Federal Government rather than to the Edo State Director of Public Prosecutions.
Illustrating the issue with the parable of the he-goat which suffers in the hands of human beings at every opportunity, the Governor recalled that it was his Principal Secretary that was killed and that the presidency does not seem to care. “I’m doing my best to raise the issue because that is the least I owe to someone who gave his life. Yet for someone else who does not think life is important, it’s a matter to trivialize and joke about.
“I was surprised that for the Attorney-General, it is something he can afford to joke with, telling me that my Attorney-General didn’t know what to do,” the governor lamented. The Governor, who advised that office holders should be mindful that they would vacate the office someday, noted that the essence of governance was the protection of life and property. “Even in poverty, people need to feel safe and secure. Nobody has a right under our constitution to take the life of another except if it has been confirmed by a court of competent jurisdiction,” he stressed.
In his reaction, Adoke, who refused to comment on the incident until he was told that Oshiomhole had earlier spoken to the media, said he never disrespected the office of Governor Oshiomhole maintaining that they are friends. He said though the Governor was at liberty to say whatever he wants, he would neither treat the Governor’s office with disdain, nor join issues with him.
The full meeting, presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan, was attended by among others, the Senate President, David Mark; Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon; former President Shehu Shagari, and erstwhile Head of Interim National Government (ING), Ernest Shonekan.
