Governors and obstruction of arrest – Punch

A new and dangerous trend is emerging in the country, starring state governors racing to the “rescue” of high-profile corruption suspects about to be arrested by security agents.  The movie-style drama has played out in Rivers and Ekiti states, where the governors barged in on law enforcement operations, faced off with armed security operatives and prevented the arrest of suspects. Such behaviour is not only inappropriate, but is potentially explosive.

It is amazing that some individuals occupying high office often do not weigh the consequences of their actions. This was in evidence in Ado Ekiti on October 17 when Governor Ayodele Fayose led a large retinue of his supporters to an Access Bank branch to interrupt an ongoing security operation in which Precious, wife of a former minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, was being restrained from leaving over a suspicious transaction. His intervention prevented the lady from being arrested or giving explanations on the account to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Perhaps Fayose was emboldened to stage the “rescue” operation after Governor Nyesom Wike had dramatically blazed the trail nine days earlier in Rivers State when he led party supporters, government officials and squadrons of police to intervene in an ongoing operation by the State Security Service’s search-and-arrest operation at the Port Harcourt residence of Abdullahi Liman, a judge of the Federal High Court.  Like the Ado Ekiti saga, an ugly outcome was barely averted and the security agents left without the suspect.

Seemingly unaware of the danger they exposed themselves to and the security implications of any harm coming to them, Wike and Fayose have since been grandstanding. “Not under my watch will I allow this kind of impunity to take place,” Wike pompously declared. Fayose was even more bombastic; “They can’t try that nonsense in my state; if they try it, there will be a showdown.” Such lawlessness and impunity demean Nigeria. Obstruction of justice is a serious offence.

How did Nigeria descend to this level, where governors would be physically obstructing law enforcement agents from carrying out their jobs? Both governors have taken impunity to a new height by resorting to self-help. The law does not grant immunity to judges or individuals, including wives of politicians, whether they are friends or guests of governors or not. State governors should be able to draw a line between politics and governance.

The claims of Wike and Fayose that the SSS and EFCC did not follow due process have divided lawyers and should only be addressed through the normal administrative and legal channels. Who decides what due process is? The veracity of these claims or their rightness can only be challenged by recourse to higher authorities or the courts. It should definitely not be by a resort to self-help and confrontation with law enforcement agents. The wise counsel of Samson Uwaifo, a retired Supreme Court Justice, that the issue of corruption and the legal authority of SSS and EFCC to investigate crime and make arrests should be separate from dispute over process should guide political leaders.

For the avoidance of doubt, Wike had no business interrupting a security operation by armed operatives in the middle of the night. Fayose too over-stepped his bounds. In the Port Harcourt case, the SSS said it had search and arrest warrants; in Ado Ekiti, the EFCC said the bank was following standard procedure by calling in the police when anyone attempts to withdraw from a flagged account. All it took for the two states to be plunged into crisis on the two occasions was for a miscalculation or indiscretion by the opposing armed camps and a shoot-out. Suppose a governor is hit by a bullet from the notorious “accidental discharge”?

As the chief law officer of the country, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, ought to have come out with very strong statements on the governors’ recklessness. What might be the outcome if all the 34 other governors opt to follow this odious precedent and mobilise supporters, police aides and militants to disrupt any arrest of their favourites? The implications for law enforcement and the authority and ability of agencies to undertake their tasks are too grave. President Muhammadu Buhari should not give the impression that the central government is ineffectual and unable to enforce its lawful writ anywhere in the country without being stopped by state governors.

The war on corruption is one that must be won despite the formidable array of forces fighting back so ferociously. But no one or group, no matter how highly placed in the society, should be allowed to truncate it. In prosecuting it, Buhari and Malami should ensure that the law enforcement agencies keep within the confines of the law and due process.