In this short write-up, a look will be taken at disqualification of a category of persons from contesting the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, seats in the National Assembly of the republic, the office of the governors of the states of the federation and seats in the Houses of Assembly of the states of the federation.
Section 137 (1)(I) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides that a person, who has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry or an Administrative Panel of enquiry or a Tribunal set up under the Tribunals of Enquiries Act or any other related law in force in Nigeria and whose indictment has been accepted by the Federal or State Government, stands disqualified to contest the office of the president.There are also similar provisions in the constitution barring persons from contesting seats in the Houses of Assembly of states of the Federation (section 107 (1)(h)), seats in the National Assembly ( section 66 (1)(h)) and the offices of the governors of the states of the federation (section 182 (1)(I) of the Constitution).
All these provisions have ceased to be in force now by virtue of their deletion from the Principal Act (the Constitution) by the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (First Alteration) Act. See sections 13, 8, 2 and 19 of the Act.
The deletion of these provisions from the Constitution must have been prompted by the need to pave way for fair hearing to thrive in the process of dispensation of justice in cases concerning public office holders in Nigeria.Mere indictment for embezzlement or fraud should not be sufficient grounds for denying a person from contesting any political office in the land especially as these administrative bodies of enquiry are purely investigative in nature.This is why the outcome of such panel can be nothing other than mere indictment as envisaged by the Constitution. However,one cannot rule out completely the relevance of such panel of enquiry as its proceedings is not subject to the constitutional immunity that chief executives enjoy under the constitution during their tenures of office.
With the way the above constitutional amendment was greeted with criticism by Nigerians in the media, one could hardly imagine that it has a bright side.A careful look at sections 137 (1)(d)(e), 182 (d)(e), 107 (1) (c) (d) and 66 (1)(c)(d) of the Constitution reveals that the much criticised constitutional alteration is not fashioned by the lawmaker to protect the interest of his fellow politicians , but, rather, it is meant to curb the practice of subjecting political office holders to unfair trial and, ultimately, to promote the principle of fair hearing. Section 137 (1)(d)(e) provides that a person shall not be qualified to run for the office of the president if he is under a sentence of death imposed by any competent court of law or tribunal in the country or a sentence of imprisonment or fine for any offence involving dishonesty or fraud or for any other offence,imposed on him by any court or tribunal or substituted by a competent authority for any other sentence imposed on him by such a court or tribunal.Section 137 (1)(d)(e) further provides, in the alternative, that a person shall not be so qualified if, within a period of less than ten years before the date of the election to the office of President, he has been convicted and sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty or he has been found guilty of the contravention of the Code of Conduct.
From the contents of the above provisions, which have survived constitutional amendments, it is clear that the era of the practice of disqualifying a person from contesting any of political offices in question has gone. Such denial can only be based on the grounds as provided in section 137 (1)(d)(e)(d) quoted above and other similar provisions.In order words, for a person to now be disqualified from contesting any of these political offices in Nigeria, he must be so disqualified based on his conviction and sentence by a court of competent jurisdiction.
It is also important to stress that the mere fact that somebody has been convicted of an offence without being sentenced is not sufficient to disqualify him from running for any of the concerned political offices in the land .As stipulated in the above provisions, a person must have been both convicted of an offence and sentence, either of fine or imprisonment, must have been imposed on him.
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