Two essentials of democracy are lacking in the Tinubu regime, making it certain that democracy is doomed under him. The first is the freedom of the people to choose their leadership and the second is institutions that are independent and competently run for the equal benefit of all segments of the society, including individuals and groups.
Freedom to choose means the existence of a viable opposition and the possibility of that opposition unseating the Government in power in free, fair and transparent elections managed by a body that independently pursues a policy of total and unwavering commitment to the transparency and integrity of the process as the bedrock of the ideal of democracy. That has since proved a mirage under Tinubu. The starting point should have been a transparent investigation into the so-called glitch that affected only the presidential election in 2023 to establish the cause and the preventive measures that have been put in place to forestall a reoccurrence of that or any other one. To complete the picture, INEC has consistently been accused of taking actions and decisions that are aimed at stoking division and strife within the opposition parties in order to weaken and eventually destroy them. All the hard work put in by the previous PDP administrations have since been thrown overboard.
Institutions must therefore not only be seen to be independent and professional; they must also be seen to act fairly at all times having nothing else in mind but the best interest of the nation and the guaranteeing of individual rights under the set rules of the particular institution . Every individual, organization, group or segment of the society must on interaction with an institution go away with the impression that the institution worked for his benefit even if his wishes were rejected. It is a taboo to democracy that anyone should feel that the institution rejected him or favored a particular person due to considerations that are extraneous to the set rules such as elite patronage, party affiliation, nepotism and sectionalism or other discrimination.
The judiciary is at the head of the institutions of the country. Without a doubt, the Constitution, hence, the judiciary is the cornerstone on which democracy is built. Judges cannot see their position as another appointment or promotion that was the product of patronage, the fact that they were appointed or promoted by the executive arm of Government, notwithstanding. They must see themselves beyond having or pursuing a career. They must understand that they are the true architects or master builders of society whose job is to ensure that at all times every conduct is rooted in the Constitution, which must remain an inflexible and unbending measure of right or wrong in the polity and society.
Judicial collapse, when discretion overtakes rule, is always the beginning of institutional collapse, which matures into the collapse of democracy as we have experienced twice before in our national history. There is nothing to suggest that we have learnt this lesson.
We continue to have judgments in crucial and critical cases that shake the belief of the people in the very idea of constitutionalism, law and justice. The Constitution which should be the rock on which every reasonable citizen should base their conduct in the polity can arguably be said to be widely perceived now to have proved to be quicksand for those who trusted their lives to it.
Nobody could ever have imagined that a decision which shut down a State, including the functioning of the courts in the State, by cutting the State off statutory revenue (and by extension made it unlawful for the State to receive any form of revenue) could ever proceed from the Nigerian judiciary. No citizen could ever have had that in contemplation while addressing themselves to any issue. This decision has singularly altered the evolution of democracy in the country and dealt it what might yet prove to be a fatal blow.
The two essentials for its sustenance and growth being lacking under the Tinubu administrative contraption, the prognosis for democracy is bad. Hindsight confirms it. There is nothing happening now that we have not seen before. We have travelled this road before; and we know where it led us.
By Chuks Nwachuku, legal practitioner and leadership and good governance advocate, [email protected]
