The supreme court in Abuja has just ordered the reinstatement of Joshua Dariye as the governor of Plateau state nullyfying all the processes that lead to his impeachment.Do you think Dariye will come back?Will the PDP led Federal Government and the Inspector General Of Police [IGP] respect this judgement?

The supreme court has once again proved to be the only hope of a democratic Nigeria.As for the responce from the presidency,i dont think they would respect it,considering what is happening in Ekiti state and other court rulings they have not obeyed.
May the good Lord help us in Naija area.

Well, Alamy is next and while they are that, let them re-instate
Tafa Balogun as well. Real champions of democracy indeed!

Source, please. We need a link to the page you got this information from.

You can check http://www.thenewsng.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2658

@iyke D

U dont seem to get the point. The thing is that any impeachment which is being done no matter how corrupt must be done according to the democratic process. Granted Dariye is corrupt but removing him should be done according to the rule of law. Let's assume the Supreme court said his impeachment was acceptable (even when the required numbers were not met) then dark agents who feel people like Donald Duke are threats can used this legal backing to execute their agenda.

this shows that most of the national Assembly member infact most of the govt officials don't understand the constitution

the Nigerian constitution has too many grey areas

his tenure is over next month anyway he can collect his pay now

WHy waste time on this issue when he DARIYE ran away. Let him come back and get his pay now. Maybe supreme court judge will be there when the Mobile police get hold oh him. This court are giving criminals save heaven in Nigeria

They might him pay him compensation, you just never know with Nigeria, they will just throw one or two contracts his way to make up for last earnings.

WELL THIS IS WAT I CALL VICTORY FOR DEMOCRACY HOPE MR "OO " ACCEPTS THE COURT VERDICT COS THAT MAN CAN BE A ,

Maybe supreme court judge will be there when the Mobile police get hold oh him. This court are giving criminals save heaven in Nigeria

Are you serious? I pardon your ignorance.

Some of the guys posting here do not have a modicum of respect for procedures. They sound like Gani Fawehinmi, who was once a champion of democracy only for him to turn round and try woefully to scatter and undermine the very democracy which he fought all his life to enthrone. Listen up; no matter how corrupt Dariye, Alamiesigha, Fayose or any other branded corrupt politician is, the due constitutional process for removing him must be followed, if and whenever it becomes necessary to so do. That is democracy, that is the rule of law. Else, we encourage anarchy and resort to self help which are anaethemic to democracy. And for God's sake, why was it so crucial to punish and persecute Dariye at the material time that OBJ chose to? Why Dariye? Why not Odili? Why not Attah? Why not Ibori? Why not Nnamani?

For all I care, Dariye, Alamiesigha, Fayose and all 'impeached and impeachabeable" governors of the OBJ era constituted themselves into stumbling blocks for the 'third-third' prject of his majesty, the presido, hence the expediency of their removal through the most horrendous methods possible. It is a shame that OBJ has lost nearly every court case his administration has ever undertaken. It speaks volumes of the cedentials and credibility of his legal advisers and even Bayo Ojo, the Attorney-General. Afe Babalola's credentials are also questionable! They have faieled to open their oga's eyes to the many innuendos that have dogged his dying regime. If truly OBJ had plans to fight corruption,let him detail his czar, Nuhu Ribadu to compile dozziers on all corrupt politicians of the moment, wait until may 29, arrest all of them upon their descent from the throne and clamp them into jail. That is the wis thing to do, instead of rsorting to unlawful impeachment and intimidation tactics.

Again, Ribadu should also prepare to arrest OBJ and charge to court for wasting our commonwealth on the fraud of the past 2 weekends called elections! The corruption of stealing the votes of 65 million Nigerians is worse than even armed robbery. All the loot of Alams, Dariye, Fayose, Odili etc put together cannot equate the size and amount of money OBJ siphoned through Maurice Iwu's INEC to conduct a sham election that is reputed to have fallen below even the worst standards imagineable!

Thank God for our judiciary. Thank God for our resilience! Thank God we are alive to see this day. Shame on Obasanjo and his PDP!

They sound like Gani Fawehinmi, who was once a champion of democracy only for him to turn round and try woefully to scatter and undermine the very democracy which he fought all his life to enthrone. Listen up; no matter how corrupt Dariye, Alamiesigha, Fayose or any other branded corrupt politician is, the due constitutional process for removing him must be followed, if and whenever it becomes necessary to so do.

I understand what you are saying about following procedures BUT there are times when new procedures have to be introduced to correct a fault; if that doesnt happen, Alamiesigha and co withe the aid of immunity will probbaly still be in there knowing full well they can cover their tracks and reach some sort of agreement with the speakers.

And for God's sake, why was it so crucial to punish and persecute Dariye at the material time that OBJ chose to? Why Dariye? Why not Odili? Why not Attah? Why not Ibori? Why not Nnamani?

if/when these people are being prosecuted you will probably dig out some other names afterall them bokun for our country

AMAZING, the people that wrote the constitution can not even interpret the law of the land. I seriously don't see how or then there will be hope for Nigerians that cant speak or write in English when we can all come together and kick this criminals out. people are praising due process. why did he Dariye ran out of the country if he truly believer he was persecuted for not supporting the 3rd term? A true man will stand and defend his house.

@ Dis Guy

I understand what you are saying about following procedures BUT there are times when new procedures have to be introduced to correct a fault; if that doesnt happen, Alamiesigha and co withe the aid of immunity will probbaly still be in there knowing full well they can cover their tracks and reach some sort of agreement with the speakers.

Do two wrongs make a right?  How can you say you introduce 'new procedures' in a constitutional democracy?  That is nothing more than dictatorship.  Now, if 4 members of a 24 member  house can impeach Dariye, don't u think that 10 senators can as well sit down and impeach OBJ under any guise?  Democracy has inbuilt mechanisms for checking and correcting the system.  No one needs any pontification from a corrupt dictator like OBJ before one knows that the long arm of the law would someday catch up with any filthy politician.  The fight for corruption is a just fight, we all encourage it but it must be done in consonance with the law.  Nobody, including President OBJ is above the law.  I repeat, nobody.  Not even EFCC!  The laws are designed to check arbitrariness.  If the anti-corruption system is institutionalized, we won't need any kangaroo impeachment before the culprit is brought to book.  All the gymnastics tha OBJ and cronies are playing with our intelligence would soon crumble on his head.  OBJ is the MOST corrpt politician Nigeria has ever produced.  He has surpassed even Gen. Sanni Abacha's record of pilfery and looting.  Who shall jail the emperor?

@ MAMAJAMA

AMAZING, the people that wrote the constitution can not even interpret the law of the land.  I seriously don't see how or then there will be hope for Nigerians that can't speak or write in English when we can all come together and kick this criminals out.  people are praising due process. why did he Dariye ran out of the country if he truly believer he was persecuted for not supporting the 3rd term?  A true man will stand and defend his house.

The supreme court or even the judiciary did not WRITE the constitution.  They only INTERPRETE it as was writen.  You seem to have forgotten that Dariye is as corrupt as every other Governor in Nigeria.  And, the court ruled that Joshus Dariye was improperly impeached because the required 2/3rd majority was not met.  The court was not saying he is not corrupt.  If anybody must be impeached, the constitution upon which everybody subscribes to must be respected and followed.  That is the way it is done even in America, Britain, Germany or even heaven.  The law must be respected by all.  The law is no respecter of persons.

My 2 cents!

you are making it sound like laws in the country dont have loopholes, the loopholes in the nigerian constitution are as big as alamiesigha's stomach!!

celemel, prosecuting alamesigha* at this moment is not proper since he has immunity  according to the  law of the land,right?

I hop the guy will not sell his state before handing over in May?

@celemel,

In your infinite wisdom, why will anyone want to prosecute Obasanjo then?
He has immunity, and he is the most corrupt of them (as you say), isn't that
the pre-requisite for letting anyone go scot-free in Nigeria?

Ha, so Gani is no longer a champion of democracy, I wonder what brought
about the change. Could it be that he realizes the negative effect that these
bone-headed rulings are having on the well-being or progress of the country?
Could it be that our courts are siding with people caught with unjustifiable
loot in their homes abroad (by foreign law enforcement agents too)? Who
knows?

Some of you guys either forget or don't have any idea that democracy is often
relegated to the back even in nations with the longest history of democratic
governance, most especially in times of war or when dealing with issues that
bothers on the security of the state. Do you think the US constitution as it
pertains to every day life really holds supreme within the CIA or the Pentagon?
As a matter of fact, most the work these agencies do are actually against the
constitution but they are ultimately geared towards the overall best interest of
the US. That is how most of these other "democratic" countries function.

So that you know: Corruption is the greatest threat facing Nigeria's existence.
You can choose to continue treating it with kids glove or take drastic measures
to win the battle. You guys can have your "full blown democracy with unchecked
corruption". I will personally prefer a situation where there is less democracy but
corruption is checked, if that's what it takes to benefit the masses of the nation.

Oh well, enjoy your corruption unlimited but democratic society. And you have
the nerve to complain about Iwu or Obasanjo? What double-speak?

This Guy
Who makes OBJ the prosecutor? And loopholes? Yes, there are.  But they are still the laws.  It is the law that gave OBJ the presidency.  It's the law all of them swore to abide by.  It is the law that made it possible for us to have EFCC, no mater how imperfect.  The same law says, if you must impeach then u can only do that with 2/3rd majority of the house.  Chikena!  Whether Alams, Dariye or Attah steal a zillion dollars, the law must be allowed to take its course, else u are doing the right thing using the wrong tactics and it won't stand, just as this Dariye case.

celemel, prosecuting alamesigha* at this moment is not proper since he has immunity  according to the  law of the land,right?

Yes sir!  That is the law!  If we are not comfortable with it, we change it.  And it is only when the laws are changed that we can operate it differently according to the letters of the law.  Else, we are inviting anarchy!  No government intention, no matter how noble should be done outside the law.  The danger is, someone who doesn't mean well would assume the same powers and arbitrarily use the same impunity to harrass innocent governors all i the name of fighting corruption.

And one last point:  The moment the govt of Nigeria is sincere about corruption would be the moment corruption shall dissppear.  MKO Abiola said "if you want to know whether a fish is bad, smell the head". A govt that is born thru corrupt means cannot fight corruption because coruption formed the basis upon which such a govt thrives.  OBJ, Dariye, Alams, Attah et al were rigged corruptly into power in 2003!  The circumstances of their birth make them morally bankrupt to pursue the war against corruption.  That is the reason why people like Lamidi Adedibu, Anthony Anenih etc are free men today.  No matter what we feel about it, the supreme court is the highest court in the land, and so we must abide by its judgement.  If OBJ is fighting corruption, let him start with such men who do not enjoy any immunity.  Let  him arrest Anenih and try him for looting over 600billion Naira meant for fixing our roads.  The many stories that sorround Dariye do not seem to be as smelly as that sorrounding even OBJ himself.  You guys need to shine your eyes!

the same Dariye who stole billions?

Hello guys i the diaspora,
I appeal to u guys to come back home and know exactly whats going on. Our votes were stolen on the 14th and 21st of April by OBJ's PDP! That is more sacrilegious than the few million dollars Dariye stole. OBJ has built the most expensive university in Nigeria (Bell's University, Otta), He has acquired our commonwelath thru Transcorp (including Nicon Hilton, NITEL, MTEL, etc) He has the biggest farm conglomerate in africa (this farm was in tatters by 1999), he has sold the Ports to himself, he has stolen everything steal-able, including ballot papers, ballot bags (boxes), election result sheets, elections and all. We must call a spade by its name! OBJ is not credible enough to persecute any of his fellow thieves! All of them are the same.

@celemel

Hello guys i the diaspora,
I appeal to u guys to come back home and know exactly whats going on. Our votes were stolen on the 14th and 21st of April by OBJ's PDP! That is more sacrilegious than the few million dollars Dariye stole. OBJ has built the most expensive university in Nigeria (Bell's University, Otta), He has acquired our commonwelath through Transcorp (including Nicon Hilton, NITEL, MTEL, etc) He has the biggest farm conglomerate in africa (this farm was in tatters by 1999), he has sold the Ports to himself, he has stolen everything steal-able, including ballot papers, ballot bags (boxes), election result sheets, elections and all. We must call a spade by its name! OBJ is not credible enough to persecute any of his fellow thieves! All of them are the same.

Isn't it amazing how you waived off the few million dollars Dariye stole?
And we are talking about the same person the Supreme Court just said its okay
to entrust more public funds to? Don't we love our laws and the court system?
Hey, its called democracy - steal until you crase!

You also need to check your facts regarding Transcorp. If indeed Obasanjo owns
200million shares of Transcorp, have you any proof that it was bought with public
funds? Also, since when has 51% ownership stake in NITEL, MTEL, and Hilton Hotel
constitute our entire commonwealth - mind you they were bought with borrowed
funds. If indeed, public funds are being used, shouldn't NITEL & MTEL be blazing
right now? Try google Transcorp and you will see that NITEL turnaround is being
hampered by the lack of funds currently.

At the time of impeachment, 14 of the 24 seats were vacant, therefore 8 out of the ten remaining members constitute over two thirds majority. Afterall, any decisions to be made during that period, whether to do with impeachment or anything else could only be made by a maximum of ten members, given the 14 vacant seats. But that is just my opinion as a lay person. The Supreme Court is supreme, and its judgement is final.

You guys do noty get it. He should come and be arround to handover to the next civillian govenment so that he will be arrested after handing over

I like OBJ HMMMMMM

@CBANJ

At the time of impeachment, 14 of the 24 seats were vacant, therefore 8 out of the ten remaining members constitute over two thirds majority.  Afterall, any decisions to be made during that period, whether to do with impeachment or anything else could only be made by a maximum of ten members, given the 14 vacant seats.  But that is just my opinion as a lay person.  The Supreme Court is supreme, and its judgement is final.

The matter in contention at the supreme court wasn't whether or not Dariye stole.  Everyone agrees that Dariye and in fact, the entire PDP empire stink of corruption; huge and stupendous.  That's a fact.  OBJ however used corrupt means to 'impeach' Dariye and the honorable justices of the supreme court have just said no!  2/3rd of 24 cannot be 10.  And, who declared the seats vacant?  There is no provision under the laws of Nigeria for (a) law-maker(s) to declare the seat(s) of fellow law-maker(s) vacant.  It is unconstitutional.  That is the arguement.  If Dariye stole and was caught, the honorable thing he should have done was to resign!  The alternative was for the house to sit in FULL session, serve him with notice of impeachment and upon the reciept of his reply to the notice, pass a motion calling for the state chief judge to setup a panel to investigate the allegations and if the panel finds him guilty, a motion of impeachment would then be moved.  If the motion is supported by AT LEAST 2/3RD OF THE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY (not 2/3rd of the members present and voting) then he would stand impeached and removed from office.  That is the LAW!

In the case of Monica Lewinsky and Clinton, a simple majority of the house of representatives of the US congress voted in favour of the impeachment of Clinton.  But the house did not muster the 2/3rd as required by law to remove Clinton from office.  That is why he was able to serve out his tenure even when he was impeached!  That is how democracy works!  Sometimes, the outcome may not be the desired results no matter how noble the intentions are, yet we live with it.  And, it is the duty of the supreme court to serve the role of umpire in this dangerous political terrain called naija.  

Therefore we cannot sit down and cast aspersions on the integrity of the supreme court simply because they are interpreting the laws for us.  The supreme court did not write any of the letters of the law.  Whoever wants to arrest and prosecute serving governors should first ammend the laws that give them immunity and then, go ahead to file criminal charges against them later.  The constitution we operate now was written by Abdulsalam Abubakar and handed over to OBJ.  OBJ had all of 8 years to rewrite the constitution and arrogate all the powers he needed to himself to enable him carry out thorough cleansing.  But what did he do instead?  He spent all of the past 3 years scheming and plotting to stay on in power,using anti-corruption  war as the canopy.  The intentions were self-serving and had nothing to do with our welfare and the protection of our tresury from looters.

When it was expedient, he and Ibrahim Mantu collected 200 million naira from Joshua Dariye (Plateau Ecological Fund) and used in prosecuting the 2003 campaign.  By that time, Dariye was not corrupt!  When it became apparent that Dariye would not endorse his 3rd term agenda and would instead, stick with Atiku's presidential ambitions, Dariye became  a very corrupt governor!  He was suddenly discovered and arrested in London with huge sums of money!  I can't be fooled by any politician who thinks he can work on my brains to acquire cheap publicity.  Obasanjo is as corrupt as Dariye.  If he wants to prove otherwise, let him declare his assets for the world to see.  He therefore has no moral right to fight a moral war.  Lets not be fooled!

Excerpts from the judgement of the Supreme Court:

[b]"It appears that the intention of the framers of the Constitution is that the number of the members required to transact the particular business of the legislature is a percentage or proportion of the total number or the totality of the assigned membership of the House under the Constitution. In the instant case, it is two-thirds of ALL the members of the Plateau State House of Assembly, which is made up of 24 members, that is 16 members. It is not in doubt that the word "ALL" means entire, complete, the whole number of, every one of. See page 47 of Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged Second Edition, 1975.

"In the instant case, it is not disputed that eight out of 10 members in a House of 24 membership initiated and carried out the impeachment of the 1st respondent Dariye. There is no doubt there existed in the Plateau State House of Assembly 14 vacant seats as a result of the cross-carpeting. It is my view that until the vacancies created by the carpet crossing members are filled by the process of by-election, the Plateau State House of Assembly can only transact such legislative duties that require the participation of less than 2/3rd majority of ALL the members of the House, which duties definitely exclude impeachment proceedings.

"It is clear that the Court of Appeal was right in coming to the conclusion that the said impeachment was not in conformity with the constitutional provisions and consequently invalid.

"In conclusion, it is clear that the appeal lacks merit and is accordingly dismissed by me with N10, 000 costs against the appellants: I wish I could award more, but my hands are tied.

"The judgment of the Court of Appeal restoring and re-instating the 1st Respondent Joshua Chibi Dariye to his office as the Governor of Plateau State of Nigeria with all rights, privileges and perquisites of the said office is hereby affirmed. The appeal is dismissed."[/b]

Please be better informed!

@CBANJ,
At the time of impeachment, 14 of the 24 seats were vacant, therefore 8 out of the ten remaining members constitute over two thirds majority. Afterall, any decisions to be made during that period, whether to do with impeachment or anything else could only be made by a maximum of ten members, given the 14 vacant seats. But that is just my opinion as a lay person. The Supreme Court is supreme, and its judgement is final.

10 was not the full house. Only 24 will make the full house. The 10 cannot represent the wholePlatue State and mind you, those that declared those seats vacant, did it to achieve the impeachement. The 14 didnt resign, they only changed party. Several Senators moved from their parties to join the PDP, but their seats were not declared vacant. It is only the opposition that get such pronouncements.

Mind you, we are not condoning corruption, but I can assure that you Dariye was not impeached because of corruption: He was dealt with for not bowing down very well to the "gods" in Aso Rock. Why was Peter Obi of Anambra State impeached by 5.00am? Corruption?

Beisdes, election rigging is the worst and foundation of all corruptions for only through it, do corrupt politicains become leaders. Who will be punished for the fraud called elections?

Also, why cant the corruption fighters move to remove the madness called "immunity" clause if they are sincere? The truth is that nobody is corrupt in Nigeria until you offend the "gods". Even if you are not corrupt, saying no to the "gods" is enough to label you corrupt.

Dr. Chris Ngige of Anambra State ought to have recieved an award from the PDP for a job well done, yet our corruption fighter in the person of OBJ is persecuting him till this day.

Thank God for the Supreme Court. May the supreme court void this robbery called election. may the supreme court live long.

Beisdes, election rigging is the worst and foundation of all corruptions for only through it, do corrupt politicains become leaders. Who will be punished for the fraud called elections?

Dr. Chris Ngige of Anambra State ought to have recieved an award from the PDP for a job well done, yet our corruption fighter in the person of OBJ is persecuting him till this day.

you said election is the foundation of corruption yet you want Ngige to get an award
Dariye was also part of the system that rigged the elections isnt he?

Most of these funny judgements will only serve to enbolden currupt officials. All it takes now is to hire the best SAN money can buy and head for the supreme court.

This only highlights the urgent need to change our constitution and address all the ambiguities and inconsistencies. That should be a priority.

In civilised societies, the likes of Dariye, Ngige, Tinubu, Atiku would have resigned long ago. In Nigeria they are celebrated by everyone, our courts inclusive. Let's sieze complaining about the failings of our nation. As a matter of fact, let the place burn if it must!!

One thing is certain: with this kind of attitude and foolishness from the so called "Supreme" court,
the country is not going anywhere. Why bother having an EFCC or the likes, if the Supreme court
is almost bound to rule against them, why bother doing anything at all?. Whatever happened to
the spirit of the law or public interest?

MAMAJAMA
THIS IS REAL AMAZING IS EVEN REAL MAZING HOW THE NIGERIANS GIVE SUCH PEOPLE BE GIVEN VIP TREATMENT BECOUSE THE ARE CRIMINAL AS YOU SAID.

Dis Guy:

you said election rigging is the foundation of corruption yet you want Ngige to get an award
Dariye was also part of the system that rigged the elections isnt he?

Chris Uba himself confessed that he rigged the election and that Ngige did not know how it was done. We agree that Ngige was the beneficiary, yet he (Nigige) said no to the looting palnned by Chris Uba. That was what caused the qaurrel!

The award I am talking about is not for election rigging, rather that he said no to looting of the states treasury. He defied the purpose for which the rigging was allowed in the first place. His crime agaisnt OBJ and PDP was not election rigging, rather that he said no looting of the states treasury. Chris Uba was promoted to a member of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Ngige was expelled. When they panned to kill Ngige, Audu Ogbe brought it open and got sacked (rumour says with a gun).

Let us no mix up these issues, they are quite different.

joshO:

Most of these funny judgements will only serve to enbolden currupt officials. All it takes now is to hire the best SAN money can buy and head for the supreme court.

This only highlights the urgent need to change our constitution and address all the ambiguities and inconsistencies. That should be a priority.

Do not balme the Supreme court. The judgements are not funny rather our constitution is funny. Our foundation as a country is funny. Example, what is immunity clause? Our constitution says a serving governor must not be tried no matter what he/she is accused of. The Supreme court is doing excellent job. There job is to interprete the constitution.

The issue here is not whether Dariye is corrupt or not, rather it is whether his impeachment was constitutional or not? Remember the impeachment of Peter Obi: the courts over turned because it was against the constitution. Like I said, the problem is not the supreme court, but the constitution.

Is it not the duty of the National Assembly and the Executive to amend the constitution? So why didnt they work hard to see that the immunity clause and all other nonsense in our present constitution are amended? The constitution should be amended so that a tyrant worse than OBJ will not repeat this kind of internal colonisation, where a man from Ogun State will impose upon us in Anambra someone with a questionable character like Andy Uba to lead us.

They are yet to amend the Land Use Act that gives tyrants like OBJ the right to go a village in the Niger Delta, collect their oil by force and shoot them if they complain.

In this trying period, we should support the judiciary! They seem to be the only hope, seeing that the executive and and National Assembly have failed us.

Iyke-D:

One thing is certain: with this kind of attitude and foolishness from the so called "Supreme" court,
the country is not going anywhere. Why bother having an EFCC or the likes, if the Supreme court
is almost bound to rule against them, why bother doing anything at all?. Whatever happened to
the spirit of the law or public interest?

I think it is the hight of ignorance to say that the supreme court is foolish. The job of the EFCC is to investigate and prosecute the corrupt, it is not their duty to impeach the person if he is a governor. Impeachment is the job of the state assembly and they must follow the constitution. Besides, that the EFCC says somebody is corrupt is not the final say, they will have to prove their case in court. Dariyes corruption is known all over the world, yet our constition says "you cant try him". Our constition also says it must take 2/3 of the Assembly Members to impeach, the people that impeached were not up to that.

Now, let us seperate Dariyes corruption from the constitutionality of his impeachment. They are two seperate issues. Very soon, Dariye will no longer be governor and the EFCC can try him as much as they want. By then, just watch out and see if the judiciary will not punish him. Surely, they will.

Finally, I will also point out that OBJs administration is not fighting corruption, rather they are using corruption fight as an excuse to deal with those that do not answer "yes sir". If they are fighting corruption, this election would be cancelled for it was marred with high level corruption.