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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
For 13 years, he was in the legal trenches fighting for justice for victims of one of the most heinous extra-judicial killing of five Apo traders and their girlfriend commonly referred to as “Apo Six” on June 8, 2005 by trigger happy police officers.
Today, Mr. Amobi Nzelu, an accomplished lawyer who turned 70 years on January 14, 2023 has lamented that justice was not dished out to the families of the victims after a decade of protracted court proceedings that left the victims’ families emotionally and financially drained.
In this interview with Sunday Sun, the Enugu State born legal practitioner barred his mind on some national issues and finally submitted that the unity of the country is still hanging on a delicate balance of injustice and that Nigeria is presently hemorrhaging from the wounds inflicted on her by bad and recycled leaders.
In less than a month, Nigerians will go to the polls to choose their leaders. Given the present economic and insecurity situations in the country, who do you think is the best for Nigeria among the presidential candidates?
You see, I have refused to do politics in Nigeria because of what the late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa said, ‘that politicians, what they tell you, they are correct in the morning, the same thing is doubtful in the afternoon and is false in the evening.’
But speaking seriously, Nigerians cannot pretend as if they don’t know what is happening. There is no different market for a northerner or a southerner, we all go to the same market. The same harsh economy affects everybody. The problem with this country is they keep recycling leaders, dead woods who are spent and have nothing more to offer.
Looking at the forefront runners for this election, Nigerians know who is best qualified to enter into office. As the candidates go to Chatham House, Town Hall meetings, they are being auditioned for the number one job in Nigeria. Nigerians have seen them and they know what to do.
Time has come when we put our religion and ethnic differences behind us and face the facts facing us as a nation. This country is hemorrhaging seriously because of poor management by recycled leaders. You can’t expect to get a different result when you keep doing one thing the same way. We know them. Records are there to speak for them. Even a child in the womb knows who is better qualified to enter into that office. It’s time to reject recycled leaders.
Politicians have divided this country into ethnic and religious lines. Ask them in their closest and they will tell you who among the candidates is the best for Nigeria. They openly campaign for their various political parties, but in their closest, they are grumbling. No tribe or religion has monopoly of governance in a united country.
Still on politics, given the crises and judgments from the election tribunals especially the Osun State governorship tribunal, can you trust INEC to conduct a free and fair election that can be trusted by all?
There is no perfect election anywhere in the world. All I can say is there is room for improvement. I will call on INEC to look at notable loopholes, grey areas and closed them so that we can all have a better election.
Having said that, one major concern which is a time bomb is section 134 of the 1999 Constitution, which prescribed the requirements to be met by a presidential candidate to become the president of Nigeria.
A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, wrote INEC requesting for the correct interpretation of this section, and it has not responded to it.
The Electoral Act, 2022 states that “…the result (in an election to the office of the President or Governor) shall be ascertained by counting the votes cast for each candidate and subjected to the provisions of sections 133, 134 and 179 of the Constitution, the candidate that receives the highest number of votes shall be declared elected by the appropriate returning officer.”
But in the letter, Mr Agbakoba expressed worry which I agree with him, that there can be multiple interpretations of section 134 of the 1999 Constitution, which prescribed the requirements to be met by a presidential candidate to become the president of Nigeria.
In case of an election with only two candidates, Section 134 (1) of the 1999 Constitution states that a presidential candidate shall be deemed to have been duly elected where he has “the majority” of votes cast at the election, and has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
But in a case where there are more than two presidential candidates, Section 134 (2) states that a candidate shall be deemed to have been duly elected where he has the “highest number” of votes cast at the election and has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election each of at least two-thirds of all the states in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
First, Mr Agbakoba said the constitution describes the winner in two different languages. “One, the winner must score the majority of votes [in section 134 (1)] and the other, the winner must score the highest number of votes [ in section 134 (2)]. This is confusing,” he wrote in the letter addressed to the INEC Chairman.
You can see that this section of the law is explicit enough as to whether the two-thirds votes a candidate must secure as mentioned in the law, would include or exclude the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
For instance, if to be declared winner of the presidential election, a candidate must win a quarter of votes in 24 states – which makes up the two-thirds– as well as the FCT, or without the FCT. Does this mean that the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja is incorporated in the 24 States? Or…does it mean that the presidential candidate must also score not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja?”
“Can a candidate that scored not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in 36 states of the federation but fails to score one-quarter of the votes cast at the election at the Federal Capital Territory, be duly elected as President of Nigeria?”
This is a serious matter and it is a time bomb because somebody can win in other states, but may not win in the FCT. I think the issue needs to be cleared by INEC.
You were a frontline lawyer fighting the cause of justice for victims of Apo six killings. It is now 18 years and you are still not a happy person even after judgment has since been delivered on the case?
Let me be frank to you. There was no justice in this case. How can there be justice when the main culprit, DCP Ibrahim Danjuma was pronounced innocent?
But two of the officers involved were convicted and sentenced to death on March 9, 2017, in a judgment by Justice Ishag Bello of the FCT High Court, who said “there was not enough evidence to convict DCP Ibrahim Danjuma”, who allegedly ordered the shootings?
My clients have rejected the judgment and wanted an appeal but the process was frustrated by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.
After 13 years, the judge returned the verdict of not guilty, discharged and acquitted DCP Ibrahim Danjuma and ASP Zakaria. Danjuma was re-absorbed into the Nigerian Police Force and made an Assistant Inspector General of Police(AIG) before he finally retired.
The worst aspect of it is that there is no appeal against that judgment up till date, for a clear case of multiple murder. In a case where one of the suspects openly narrated in court how DCP Danjuma took his AK 47 rifle and shot at the car, killing some of the traders?
I have written a book on the incident titled “ Apo Six plus One: Tragedy of a Nation,”. It is a 370 page book with shocking revelations of that took place, including all the confessional statements of the suspects, the cover up, the twist and how one of the key suspects and DPO of Garki, Othman escaped from police custody at the 5th floor of Louis Edet House, among other revelations. I intend to release the book to the public in two years time to mark the 20th anniversary of the gruesome murder of the innocent traders.
