28032019 - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY LEADERSHIP:All clear for Lawan; fresh crisis brews over Gbaja

28 — VANGUARD, THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019
08152060944
NBA must t stop op acting like e labour unions
----Sofola, SAN
By Onozure Dania
Mr. Olusina Abdulrafiu
Sofola, SAN, is the
first son of the late
renowned legal luminary,
Chief Idowu Shotayo Sofola,
SAN. In this interview, he
shares his view on what the
APC government should
focus on in the next four
years. He also spoke on law
reforms, remedy for election
violence victims,
independence of the
judiciary amongst other
issues.
Excerpt:
How would you assess the
performance of INEC in the
last election?
The truth of the matter is that
they did reasonably well but I
was expecting more. Having
practised democracy for quite
a while now, there should be
an improvement and we
should practise things the way
it should be done in the 21st
Century. There are a lot of
instances that are quite
unpalatable and should not be
happening. I will give you an
example. On the day of the
Presidential and National
Assembly elections, I left my
house with my wife and
children and we were just
going for a leisure walk
around the neighbourhood to
see how everything is going
on. This was about 8:45am and
we saw a bus with some
occupants. They introduced
themselves as the
Independent National
Electoral Commission, INEC
staff and said they were
looking for where the polling
station should be, where they
were meant to erect their
polling booth. I think that was
not good enough, especially
with the postponement of the
elections. I expected more
from them in terms of logistics
and preparations for the
elections. There were a few
things I asked myself like
when shall we get there,
considering this permanent
voter’s card and everything
that goes with it, like the
biometrics. Why must you only
be able to vote in the place
where you registered? I think
the truth of the matter is that
INEC would have done a bit
better.
There has been a lot of
disagreements among
lawyers over the use of the
Military during the general
elections. What is your
reaction?
We all know what the job of
the Military is. They are meant
to protect the country from
external forces. That is their
primary duty. In certain cases,
they can also get themselves
involved in protecting the
citizens against themselves,
*Mr Olusina Abdulrafiu Sofola, SAN
within the country but in such
cases there has to be a clear
need for that. The truth of the
matter is that I am not sure (as
far as the election was
concerned), there was need for
the Military to be actively
involved with the elections. It
does seem sometimes that they
could appear to be exacting
force, or to be putting people
under pressure, or to be
making people uncomfortable.
Honestly, I’m not sure that it
was necessary to have the
Military out the way we did. I
would have preferred a
situation where the police are
allowed to do their job while
the Military is kept on standby
so that if the need arises, they
would be able to approach
them within a short notice. But
to have them going around
even before any obvious
trouble, is wrong in my view.
There were cases of violence
in some parts of the country
during the last election. What
are the provisions for victims
of election violence?
The law makes provisions for
how to treat election violence,
vis-à-vis the persons involved
in such violence and
prescribes custodian sentences
if they are actually found
guilty of such violence. If I
understand your question
properly, to the best of my
knowledge, the Electoral Act
does not make specific
provisions for victims of
election violence. Obviously,
the law generally tries to
protect the victims and also,
the Government has the duty
and responsibility to take care
of the victims of such
violence. The truth of the
matter is that if we had a good
system and if we were in a
country where the hospital is
working properly, anyone that
is a victim of election violence
should be able to get
treatment from state hospitals.
I do not know of any particular
law that makes any specific
provisions as to how to treat
victims of election violence.
Do you believe that the NBA
is playing its role effectively
on the issues of governance?
I believe that they are moving
in the right direction. We have
not gotten to where we want
to be, but I believe that we are
moving in the right direction.
I am not one of
those who believe
that the NBA
should be radical,
and should be
going on strikes; I
believe that they
should make
positive comments
and take positive
actions in relation
to events as they
arise
I noticed that from the time of
Austin Aleghe, SAN, when
any major matter arises, the
president of the NBA will
meet with his executives and
they will state their positions
on such issues. That has
continued up till now. When
issues arise that the general
community of people are not
comfortable with, you see the
NBA coming up with their own
communiqué on such issues.
I believe that is certainly a
step in the right direction. The
NBA is beginning to realise
that it should not be looked at
as a labour union of some sort.
The NBA is meant to be
interested in trying to protect
the Judiciary and ensuring
that the rule of law is
maintained and that the
warfare of their members is
also taken care of.
I am not one of those who
believe that the NBA should
be radical, and should be
going on strikes. I believe that
they should make positive
comments and take positive
actions in relation to events as
they arise. I believe that the
present president, Mr Paul
Usoro, SAN is working in the
right direction. I will like to
believe that as time goes on,
he will be able to perfect it and
give us the NBA that we
would all be proud of.
Some months ago when the
former CJN, Onnoghen was
accused of not declaring all
his assets, the NBA asked
lawyers to boycott the courts.
Do you think that was
necessary?
Whether it was necessary or
not, I will not want to go into
that right now because there
are obviously divergent views
on it. But as a lawyer and a
member of the NBA, I believe
that whatever decisions the
NBA, as a body reaches,
should be complied with by
members of the association
because if it is not, then the
association would be rendered
ineffective. Once the body
makes a decision, as a
member of that association, I
believe that it is our duty to
comply with whatever
directions that our parent body
has given except of course, if
it is something that is illegal.
Provided that it is not illegal,
I think that we should support
our association to the best of
our ability. If I remember
clearly, it wasn’t just the
meeting of the executives, the
ex- officials of NBA was called
and it was the decision of that
enlarged body that lawyers
should not attend court. I am
of the opinion that every
lawyer should set aside their
personal beliefs and comply
with the decisions of the NBA.
From the look of things, the
judiciary appears to have
been muzzled by other arms
of government. Do you
believe the judiciary can ever
be truly independent?
I think it is very important that
there should be independence
of the Judiciary and I cannot
overstress this. The Judiciary
is the last hope of the common
man and they should be
allowed to do their job. The
executive should restrict
themselves to their own job.
Legislators should make the
laws, the executive should
give the policies and the
judiciary should be allowed to
adjudicate because there is the
need for separation of powers
and the independence of the
judiciary cannot be
overemphasised. I think that
the onus is on the executive
not to be overbearing. The
executive may not necessarily
be happy with the way things
are going in the judiciary
sometimes, but the truth of the
matter is that the Constitution
that we subscribe to must be
followed to the letter. I believe
that the executive should
respect the Constitution. They
should respect the judiciary
and give it that which has been
so stated in the Constitution.
As the 9th Assembly prepares
to take over legislative
sessions, what aspects of the
law do you think they should
consider reviewing?
One thing that continues to
bother me every year is our
budget. For one reason or the
other, our budget is never
passed on time. We are now
in the month of March and the
budget has not been passed
and this is for a country that
the economy to a large extent,
depends on the Government.
It’s dominated by the public
sector, so it obviously leaves a
lot to be desired that as of
March, which will end next
week, the budget has not been
passed. This is something that
is of immense importance for
everybody. Let us put this
budget in place so that the
economy can move forward
because there is a lot of
uncertainty all over the place.
Once it is passed, everybody
will know where they are
going and then we would be
able to move forward. It also
be nice if the issue of the
minimum wage for the
workers is resolved so that we
don’t have cases of strikes
every now and then. If these
two things are resolved, then
we are on to a good start.
What are your expectations in
the second coming of Buhari’s
administration?
Honestly, I pray that the APC
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