Constitutional And Moral Battles Over Dasuki’s Bail, By Yusuf Ozi-Usman

Overall, the Nigerian constitution contains fourteen sections on the fundamental human rights of a Nigerian, while the United Nations provides for thirty declarations of the universal human rights.
And the relevant section in the Nigeria constitution, read, in conjunction with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights goes thus: “Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.”
Going by the relevant constitutional provisions and this UN declaration, would one be correct to say that the former Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki is presumed innocent of the arms deal scam that has taken the nation by surprise in the last couple of months? Does he need to be proved guilty or otherwise by court before even a layman would accept that he is actually guilty?
This is a man who has admitted and is proved to have cornered $2.1 Billion (over N400 Billion) meant to procure arms and ammunition for the soldiers that are prosecuting the war against Boko Haram in the North East in particular and other parts of the North in general. There are other monies, including the returned Sani Abacha loot which he was also reported to have cornered. The allegation was confirmed by no less other than the former coordinating minister of economy and minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
As a matter of fact, every other person that benefited huge financial gains from the immediate past government of Goodluck Jonathan, ranging from the Daar Communications Limited chairman emeritus, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, to the publisher of ThisDay newspapers, Nduka Obaigbena pointed at Dasuki as the giver. The former NSA even admitted, whether true or false, that he gave some Dollars to some former and probably serving governors.
The issue before the court and public domain as it stands now, is not whether Dasuki is guilty of denying our soldiers the right to sophisticated weapons to prosecute the war by hijacking the money meant to acquire weapons and distributing such monies to the favoured, already comfortable Nigerians, but the issue is what is the appropriate way to deal with him.
Of course, it is completely out of place for anybody to claim that the government of Muhammadu Buhari is undermining the judicial arm of the government by refusing to comply with the court ruling granting Dasuki bail. For one thing, from the facts before the court, Dasuki ought to have been framed with mass murder and therefore made to face criminal charges.
But the Nigerian kind of Judiciary, which as one of the third arm of government in democracy, is suppose to be an institution to regulate the activities of the other two arms: the executive and the legislature, now seems caught in the web of suspiciousness.
This is an institution which even in a none democratic environment as in military government, stands, as the executive and legislature are trampled under the jackboot.
The supposed beautiful thing about the Judiciary is that it is supposed to be the last hope of the oppressed and a serious threat to the bad eggs in the society.
But a situation where the judiciary allows itself to be dancing to the tune of even the bad ones makes the country to slide into confusion and anarchy, because, the bad ones that become powerful through the distribution of the nation’s collective matrimony to those who are vocal would be protected by such few but powerful vocal elements.
With the facts on the ground, granting Dasuki bail under the circumstance put to question the integrity of the judiciary, even though the vocal few are making it to look as if the executive is undermining the judiciary.
Why are the courts in a hurry to grant Dasuki bail just for the asking? What is the over-riding interest in the judges falling over themselves to let Dasuki enjoy freedom when everyone is now aware that he and only he possesses almost all the monies this country needs to move forward?
Indeed, the fresh facts coming from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), about the possiblility of floating Dasuki for the 2019 Presidency under its platform speaks volume about the moral question involved in the whole scam.
Like the Cardinal John Onaiyekan said, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari should move fast to recover all the monies, our collective patrimony, from Dasuki and his likes and thereafter, allow them to go and enjoy their freedom. They cannot be in possession of the money meant for the welfare of over 170 million Nigerians and expected that they would be let off the hook, just so that they would fight the government from all angles: a case of corruption fighting hard to remain entrenched in the nation’s system.
If Dasuki wants to contest the 2019 Presidential election, for God’s sake, he should work hard to earn his money for the campaign, not the one he has stolen from Nigeria, leading to the unfortunate death of tens of our gallant military men in the war front with Boko Haram.
And it is unfortunate that in the whole scenario as it manifests, Judiciary has shot itself In the Foot and looking for sympathy from the same traumatized Nigerians. [myad]