By Itse Sagay, SAN

Governor Akpabio of AkwaIbom State is perhaps the most embattled politician in Nigeria today. He is currently engaging the ACN Candidate, Akpanudoedehe. The most terrifying aspect of the current development is Akpabio’s throw back to the era of Military dictatorship by his enactment of an Akwa Ibom style Decree No 2 reminiscent of the Buhari, Babangida, and Abacha Military Regimes.

This Law, which was passed by the pliant Akwa Ibom State, House of Assembly allows Akpabio, a Civilian Governor operating under a Constitutional government to Order the detention of anyone for 14 days in the 1st instance and to renew the Detention Order after 14 days, at his discretion.

This Detention Decree was passed into ‘Law’ on 31st March 2011, but has been used by Magistrate Obot to detain Akpanudoedehe, in the state for an ‘Offence’ allegedly committed on 21st March 2011, 10 days before the illegal law was passed.

Apart from the fact that the ‘Law’ was deliberately made for the incarceration of one man, in an attempt to remove him from circulation, in order to enhance the chances of Akpabio’s second coming, it is illegal because it is not a law, but is legislation ad hominem, i.e., directed at a specific individual or a group, rather than the generality of the public and is therefore illegal null and void.

Even more gravely is the ‘Law’s’ flagrant violation of the Constitution. Section 35 of the Constitution guarantees all persons their right to personal liberty and no one may be deprived of such liberty save in specifically listed circumstances, most of which refer to validly made Court Orders of committals or sentences. More relevantly section 35(5) prohibits the detention of anyone by the police or any other agency of government for more than 24 hours in an Urban area, or more than 48 hours in a rural area, where the Court is more than forty kilometers away, unless there is a valid Court Order to that effect.

Even for this brief period of permissible detention (i.e., 24 hours or 48 hours as the case may be) only the police and some expressly empowered security agencies have the power to order and effect arrests. It is important to stress that under NO CIRCUMSTANCES is a Governor empowered under our Constitution to order the arrest of anybody, much less his rival contender for political office. The Akwa Ibom ‘Law’ passed on 31st March 2011 is grossly illegal, unconstitutional, null and void on three grounds.

1.It violates section 35(5) of the Constitution by authorizing 14 days, renewable detention of Nigerians rather than 24 or 48 hours. 2. It empowers a Governor, a politician, with a personal, private agenda, rather than the police or security agencies to order the arrest of Nigerian citizens. 3. It was tailor made to target a specific individual or a group, rather than the general population. 4. When enforced, it was enforced retroactively, by the arrest of Akpanudoedehe for a purported offence committed on 22nd March 2011, when the illegal law was passed on 31st March 2011.

The ‘Law’ is therefore in violation of section 36(8) of the Constitution which states that “No person shall be held to be guilty of a criminal offence on account of any act or omission that did not at the time it took place, constitute such an offence, and no penalty shall be imposed for any criminal offence heavier than the penalty in force at the time the offence was committed.

This clearly reveals that a whole legislative process was embarked upon in order to target one man and members of his political family.

By this monstrosity of a Decree 2 of 2011, Akpabio has joined the select group of infamous dictators like Sergeant Doe, Hastings Banda of Malawi,Mugabe, Gbagbo, Papa Doc of Haiti, the late Eyadema of Togo and a host of others who have turned their countries into horrific nightmares for their citizens and residents. It is unbelievable that this can be happening in 21st century Nigeria, with our President, whose credentials for acceptance at home and internationally is respect for Democracy, Human Rights and above all, the Rule of Law.

This Akpabio Decree is an affront on the Nation and an act of impunity of the highest order. I call on the President of the NBA and his Executive to move fast to end this nightmare by getting a Court declaration, nullifying the Akwa Ibom Decree 2 of 2011.