Abusive Use of the Administration of Criminal Justice as Instrument for Political Control.

Yes,  every government in the world uses the power to choose who, when and how to prosecute a person for a “crime” as a way to intimidate and control political opponents. But nowhere on earth is such abusive use of the prosecutorial powers of the state as rampant as in Nigeria at the present time.

Every democratic legal system makes efforts to check such abusive prosecutorial powers. That is what the due process rights of a person are meant to prevent.  By setting clear standards and limitations for the government,  individuals are protected from the tendency of government to single out their opponents and persecute them through improper indictments in criminal courts. The prevention of the abusive prosecutorial powers is the key reason for the establishment of the Due Process Organization (DPA).

Let us point out just a few examples of the dangerous and perversive manner in which successive governments of Nigeria and their agencies have abused this power.

This is probably one remarkable difference between the rights abuses committed under the military rule and those committed under civilian rule.  Indeed,  there have been far more Human Rights violations since 1999 than any comparable period during military rule.

The difference is that the military government abused your rights without much pretence of prosecuting you in a court of law. So,  on the face of it,  everybody could see that your rights are being abused.  On the other hand,  the civilian government will actually abuse your rights while pretending to go through the courts.  Abuses by civilian governments end up more invidious and pervasive because they are disguised as rule of law and justice.  Yet,  it nothing other than jungle justice in practical effects.

For instance: much of all that has been done under the EFCC in Nigeria has been to use that agency to control and suppress opponents of the government of the day. EFCC has remained an instrument of political control.  No wonder it spent much of its time at the early stages in impeaching state governors opposed to President Obadanjo.

Such abusive use of prosecutorial authority is seen recently most glaringly in the case of the Chief Justice of Nigeria. The government and its prosecutorial authorities fabricated sensational stories against the CJN,  smeared and damaged his reputation,  searched his office and lied against him in the media. All the agencies of the government  – police,  EFCC,  the DSS,  the Code of Conduct Bureau were all used.  The same executive that does not know how to conduct elections could actually deploy enormous assets just to indict a CJN on fabricated evidence.

To have the CJN sit in the dock and answer questions was the ultimate aberration, and humiliation of the head of the judiciary. And that was just because the presidency saw him as an opponent that needed to be controlled, and chose to do it right through prosecution in a court of law.

Another glaring abuse of prosecutorial powers of the state is the current case of Emeka Ugwuonye. Compare that case with the case of Gani Fawehinmi working on Dele Giwa. The military government never thought of charging Fawehinmi with the murder of Dele Giwa. But the police did just that to Emeka Ugwuonye.

There are many more instances.  About 80% of all prosecutions in Nigeria is done on the basis of fabricated evidence and often against those the government perceive as enemies.

DPA is an organization that is determined to curtail the abusive use of the prosecutorial powers of the state.  This means that DPA will be working hard to strengthen the safeguards provided under the due process provisions of the law.  The case of Emeka Ugwuonye is actually a potent weapon and the best training experience for DPA members. If any of them did not understand the dangers that the organization is meant to fight,  now it is easy to understand it just by following the case of their Founder.