The police lack the competence to interpret the constitution
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja last week reinforced the limits of powers in a democracy. The court was ruling on the case brought before it by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, whose security details were unceremoniously withdrawn on the orders of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Suleiman Abba. This followed the defection of Tambuwal from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) on October 28.The court said the Speaker deserves the full complement of security details because he has not been removed from office.
While we wait for the court to conclude the case, we hasten to say that the deployment of security forces to fight partisan battles portends danger to our democracy. The police have no constitutional powers to usurp the duties of the court as it struggled to do in justifying the withdrawal of the security apparatus of the Speaker. To worsen matters, the same police did not act when similar situations occurred which benefitted the ruling PDP thus betraying its partisanship.
Explaining the reason for redeploying police personnel who formed part of Tambuwal’s security details, the IGP, (whose appointment was confirmed last week by the Council of State) said his action was justified by section 68 (1)(g) of Nigeria’s constitution which, by his interpretation, stripped the Speaker of his membership of the House, following his defection. But the section merely prohibits carpet crossing or defection from the original sponsoring political party to another. In such a case, a member of the Senate or House of Representatives is to vacate his seat. But even at that, interpretation of the constitution is the sole preserve of the court and no officer of the law has a right to self-help.
“Though Speaker Aminu Tambuwal has decamped from PDP to APC, he has not yet been pronounced as having lost his seat in the House. For now, it is presumptuous. Even at that, we should rise above the level of petty politics and do the right thing by not desecrating our institutions and the quintessence of our democratic culture through actions that call to question the institutions of the Nigeria Police and the National Assembly,” said Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN.
Ozekhome’s submission is in line with the outrage expressed by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). In a statement signed by its President, Augustine Alegeh, the body condemned strongly the action of the police, arguing that the police lacked the competence to interpret the constitution. “The Nigeria Police Force is not a court of law and lacks competence to determine whether or not a provision of the constitution has been violated by Rt. Honourable Aminu Tambuwal. That is a function reserved for the Courts of Law exclusively,” the statement said.
We join the NBA and others in condemning the action as it is a breach of the constitutional duty of the Police to provide escort and security details to the Speaker. But more worrisome is the fact that an institution empowered to protect and secure the citizens of the country can arbitrarily stray into other areas outside its jurisdiction and in so doing, unnecessarily raise the political temperature.
As far as we are concerned, the action of the IGP is wrong and condemnable. And it calls to question his impartiality in an election period. Democracy is about due process and nobody has any right to use his position as a tool to witch-hunt and victimise others. As most reasonable people have argued, the police have constitutional powers to enforce the law but not to interpret it. That function is left for the courts. Tambuwal is entitled to protection until he is removed as the Speaker of the House by his colleagues whose responsibility it is to do that.
