Human rights lawyer, Festus Keyamo has spoken out against a purported tenure elongation for governors in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States ― the three states where the Federal Government has declared an emergency rule.
Keyamo bore his position against the ostensible tenure elongation in a press statement released on Friday, saying the condition in those states do not clearly satisfy the condition to effect such elongation constitutionally.
He said it is understandable, that the government should consider the option since there is a provision for it in section 180 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
“If the Federation is at war in which the territory of Nigeria is physically involved and the President considers that it is not practicable to hold elections, the National Assembly may by resolution extend the period of four (4) years mentioned in subsection (2) of this Section from time to time, but no such extension shall exceed a period of six months at any one time,” Keyamo quoted.
However, he observed that for that part of the constitution to be applied, the country must be at war within its own territory and the president must have considered it impracticable to hold elections.
He said a careful reading of referenced section of the constitution will reveal that though the first condition is not subject to the discretion of anyone, the second one is subject to the discretion of the president.
“Therefore, nobody should be under the illusion that the president can wake up one morning and decide that elections will not hold and that the tenures of some public officers, including his own, can be extended due to a state of war. That would be a recipe for chaos,” Keyamo said.
He argued that the conditions in the affected northern states cannot be perfectly referred to as war, adding that it is only a mere case of high insecurity.
“I strongly submit that condition (1) which requires the country to be at war should be a legal and objective test, not a whimsical decision by anyone,” Keyamo said.
“I also submit that what we have in those three Northern States, though loosely referred to as “war”, is nothing but a case of high insecurity occasioned by insurgents. Strictly speaking, all constitutionally elected officials at all levels, down to the ward levels, are still in place. They have not been sacked by any rebel group. The insurgents cannot be said to be in complete control of any portion of Borno State, where our soldiers cannot penetrate.”
He said Boko Haram, the group terrorising the territory, does not even qualify to be described as rebel group because they only unleash terror and hide away, without the agenda of overthrowing the state government.
“It is just on a campaign of terror to foist a religion on all of us. Therefore, strictly speaking, Nigeria is not at war. That is why a State of Emergency (not war) has been declared in those States,” he added.
“It is even doubtful whether a country can be at war with a group of its own citizens that has decided to be rebellious. It is only when the rebellious group proclaims its autonomy within the country and seeks to totally control part of that territory and impose its own government and laws within that territory that the country can be said to be at war with that group.”
He held that the 1999 Constitution (as amended), does not envisage a situation where the country can go to war with any group within its own territory. He quoted section 5 (4) (a) of the constitution, saying “…notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section, the president shall not declare a state of war between the federation and another country except with the sanction of a resolution of both Houses of the National Assembly sitting in a joint Session.”
Keyamo warned that nobody should hide under the Boko Haram insurgency to declare a state of War in Nigeria.
“Knowing our politicians for their incorrigibility, they are capable of anything,” he said. “Any formal declaration of war due to the Boko Haram insurgency to seek any tenure elongation anywhere will be unconstitutional and will be resisted by the Nigerian people.”
