Edu should be sanctioned if found guilty of corruption – Lawyer

A lawyer and Executive Director, Centre for Social Justice, Eze Onyekpere, speaks to AYOOLA OLASUPO on the legal implication of the allegation against the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, among other issues

The issue of restructuring has been a bone of contention that successive governments have not been able to address over time. What advice do you have for the current administration concerning that?

You have a number of people and the bulk of these governments are the people who have been talking about restructuring and made it a mantra and an agenda for many years. So, the expectation is that it is time to walk the talk. The expectation is that they should go ahead and start the restructuring process.

Does it mean that an amendment to some sections of the constitution which many people have recommended can pave the way for the restructuring we are talking about?

Basically, whatever you need to do, it has to be done under an enabling law. And if there are fundamental issues that involve the structure of the federation, they must be done under the constitution. So, the constitutional amendment needs to be done, as well as the enactment of new laws and review of existing laws. Definitely, there must be a legal approach to the restructuring. It must be backed by law.

Do you also subscribe to the call that the Electoral Act should be amended by the National Assembly before the next election cycle?

It is a difficult one because we have been on this perpetual journey of every election being done with a new law. If you think you’ve tied all the loose ends, some clever politicians or judges will simply read the law upside down and still impose the same mischief and hardship on the people. Yes, let them try. We need to try but this time around, they should involve some of these judges to interpret these laws. They are paid with my tax money. So, we shouldn’t just simply let them be subject to reading the law upside down each time.

You can call the Chief Justice of the Federation. The National Assembly can approach him to say, ‘This is our objective; look at the draft we have, help us in cleaning out the draft in such a way that meets this objective so that when we come to you, we don’t get into a situation where the intent of the law will be subject to varying interpretations’. Of course, get very well-experienced lawyers to draft the document after we have come to a conclusion from the people, not just a legal or scholarly document but after we’ve had enough conviction that we will have a tight draft that will not be subjected to mysterious interpretations when it comes before the courts.

Currently, the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, is embattled as a result of her alleged involvement in transferring public funds into a private account. What is the implication of such an allegation against her?

The implication is clear; the laws have been violated because what she did was expressly outlawed in Section 713, which says that what you do is evidence of an intention to defraud the tradition. So, that is clear. If you violate the law, you should go to the sanctions section and then read the sanctions and make it out on the person who violated the law because the law is defined as a command of the sovereign and not by sanctions. If you remove sanctions from the law, then it carries no weight. So, it is a straightforward thing.

But some people said that it did not matter whether the money was transferred to a private or public account and that the most important thing was to consider whether or not the funds were used for their main purpose.

No, the issue is about the process. The process helps you to achieve the goals because beyond transferring that money, the financial regulations talk about e-payments. You pay people not by cash or cheque but money leaves the government account and moves straight to the beneficiary. Before you do that, you must have processed it and a voucher must have been raised, showing that you either did a contract or consultancy for the government and that you completed your work, and you’ve been approved. This is a certificate of completion; therefore, you are entitled to receive a certain amount under this transaction with the government or you are a beneficiary by the authority of a certain law or regulation, and that regulation or law will be cited and money moves from the account, not from the third party, but from the account of the government straight to the beneficiary.

So, there is no justification for this to stay because there should be an audit and paper trail that shows how money leaves government accounts to beneficiaries. What purpose is putting it in the private accounts serving? What purpose? Normally, the MDAs receive their allocations after the budget from the Accountant-General. Once they receive it, then they spend it on their own. What is this idea of you spending it from your ministerial account or the account of the ministry?

You are going straight to the Accountant General to spend. I think you said the Accountant General is now the Director of Finance and Accounts of the ministry. So, a lot is wrong and there is no question of what you want to achieve. No! That process must have been made to obviate the rules. This is not private money; it is public money. If there are laws that have been violated, they should be prosecuted. They should look through the EFCC and ICPC Acts and even the financial regulations and the punishments that should follow. She should be sanctioned in accordance with the law.

In 2023, SERAP accused former President Muhammadu Buhari of not executing several groundbreaking judgments by the judiciary. What can you say about the persistent and deliberatedisobedience of court rulings by the government?

It is more or less an executive thing. The judiciary will deliver the rulings in accordance with the law. It shows lawlessness, impunity, a non-democratic state of mind, and a state of mind that is atoned with dictatorship. It doesn’t show that we are operating a proper and functional democracy. It is an unfortunate scenario. All court judgments that have not been appealed should be implemented to the letter. That is about the rule of law and due process.