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Ekiti Fayemi Ban: Can a Government ban a citizen from aspiring for Office? It seems

The recent ban of former Governor of Ekiti State now the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi by the Government of Ekiti State, has brought about a debate on if a citizen can be ban from aspiring political position. The Nigerian law seems to agree, but not exactly as argued.

The State Government barred Fayemi and former Commissioner for Finance, Dapo Kolawole, for 10 years, from holding any political office in the State or anywhere in Nigeria, based on reports by the Ekiti Judicial Commission of Inquiry, which indicted them over alleged mismanagement of the State’s finances, between October 2010 and 2014.

In a white paper announcing the ban, the Government declared them unfit to hold any public office in the State.

“The Judicial Commission of inquiry set up by Ekiti State Government to look into the financial transactions of the state under the administration of Dr. Fayemi had said that the former Governor must refund a sum of N2.75 billion allocated from the N25 billion bond obtained by the Government for the execution of contract for the construction of Ultra-Modern market in Ado Ekiti, which was never executed.

“Their disrespect to the constituted authority and the undignified roles they played in the whole contracts saga were obviously against the interest of the state they were supposed to protect.  They are banned from holding public office in Ekiti and any part of Nigeria.” 

The Commissioner for Information, Lanre Ogunsuyi, while addressing journalists after the State executive council meeting on Monday, where the white paper was officially approved, said Fayemi and Kolawole exhibited disrespect for a constituted authority, in spite of their “undignified” roles in administering the state during their tenure.

Governor Fayose also said the recommendation is within the ambit of the law of the appointment of competent people to do the assignment.

Dr. Fayemi has dismissed the ban, saying the entire process is discredited right from the beginning, as the only agenda of the panel was to rubbish his public service record.

According to his Media aide,  Yinka Oyebode,

“One is therefore not surprised at the recommendations of the White Paper: It only goes to confirm our initial position that the panel was compromised right from inception and targeted against Dr Fayemi.”

Law & Precedence?

The Nigerian Constitution recognizes the right to vote and is voted for but these rights, like any other, are limited by circumstances.

Section 147(5) says nobody shall be appointed Minister of the Federal Republic except he is qualified to be elected a member of the House of  Representative. Section 107 makes Fayemi’s case a little concerning as it says in subsection 1B that a person is not qualified to be a member of the House of Representative (and thus a Minister) if

under any law in force in any part of Nigeria, he is adjudged to be a lunatic or otherwise declared to be of
unsound mind;

This section seems to say that if a law is made somewhere in Nigeria, it can rightly be applied against someone in some other part of the country in this context.

Subsection 1H goes ahead to say what seems to clearly affect Mr. Fayemi as it provides that a person cannot be appointed a House of Representative Member or a Minister if

he has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry or an Administrative
Panel of Inquiry or a Tribunal set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act, a Tribunals of Inquiry Law or any other law by the Federal and State Government which indictment has been accepted by the Federal or State Government

In October 2015, the Plateau State Electoral Tribunal blacklist lawmaker representing Langtang-South in the Plateau State House of Assembly (PSHA), Vincent Bulus, from contesting future elections. Chairperson of the tribunal, Justice Lanre Akeredolu, said the respondent was not qualified to contest the election having been convicted of an offense in line with Section 107(1)(d) of the 1999 constitution as amended.

What is a White Paper?

Whitepapers are from the British system of government with the earliest being the Churchill Whitepaper of 1922. It was basically a document which stated British position on an Arab-Zionist conflict. White Papers are generally documents which makes clear government policies and opens up a channel for opinions.

Say a Government wants to subsidize fuel, it writes a document to say so and states to what extent. When the Government planned to switch Nigeria from Analogue to Digital television transmission, it wrote a White Paper which says how it will go about this. A plan it has however not kept to.

The government also uses a White Paper to explain its position on something. As an example, after the Zaria clash between now proscribed IMN and the Army, the government set up a Judicial Panel of Inquiry and, on the basis of the report of the panel, came out with its position on what happened. Such Papers can only recommend, as did the Kaduna papers which recommended that the illegal killing of 347 citizens by the Army be brought to a Court for trial, another White Paper recommendation which had little or no impact.

Yes, Not Exactly

Tthe law, however subject to interpretations, clearly shows that the Ekiti State Government can at least argue that Fayemi stands indicted and as such may not be eligible for appointment, especially as a Minister. It is however universally known and accepted that laws are not retrogressive hence Fayemi’s present office is unaffected by this indictment.

Also worthy of note is that the law does not stipulate a timing for the ineligibility as does the State Government.

Tthe White Paper released by the State Government is but a position on the matter, a position that, apart from the time frame stated, seem to conform with the law on the surface of it.

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