“Pi pa ni o”:  The Dangers of a Selective Justice System 

The Advocate By Onikepo Braithwaite Onikepo.braithwaite@thisdaylive.com Equality before the Law A key element of democracy is the rule of law, which necessarily requires obedience to the law and its equal application to all. Double standards are not permitted, as equality, equity and fairness are the hallmarks of a constitutional democracy and the rule of law. Unfortunately, in several instances, we have seen a selective application of the law when it concerns high ranking members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), particularly elective office holders, as opposed to non-APC members. This is an indictment of the law enforcement agencies, and the Nigerian administration of justice system as a whole – that it may have become a selective or two-tier justice system; and such a system not only breeds resentment and distrust amongst the citizens, it weakens the very system it claims to uphold, and undermines its legitimacy. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Police, have become infamous for persecuting people for spurious and usually baseless allegations, many of which are clearly devoid of criminality; yet, Nigerians hear nothing about the cases of APC elective officials charged with looting Nigeria’s common wealth on a mind boggling scale, beyond the drama leading up to their arrest/arraignment.  For the avoidance of doubt, the duties of the Police and EFCC do not cover debt recovery, and simple contractual matters or breach of same, without any criminal element. But, what one observes is that these agencies attempt to introduce non-existent criminal elements into civil matters, in order to justify their intervention in matters that are not within the purview of their instructions and do not concern them. See Section 4 of the Police Act 2020 (PA) and Section 6 of the EFCC Act. Also see EFCC v Diamond Bank Plc (2018) LPELR-44217(SC) per Sidi Dauda Bage, JSC where the Supreme Court held inter alia that such invitations, harassment, intimidation and detention of individuals by the EFCC (and this can be extended to the Police) amount not only to a breach of an individual’s fundamental right, and are thereby unconstitutional and an abuse of process, pointing out that the EFCC’s enabling statute doesn’t allow the EFCC to act as debt collectors – see Section 6(b) if the EFCC Act. I also say, ditto for the Police. The view of many Nigerians therefore, is that not just that power and the proximity to power determine outcomes, more so than the Constitution and laws, but almost literally speaking, APC members are able to get away with murder!  Senator Fadahunsi’s Utterances: “Pi pa ni o” Last week, a videoclip of Senator Francis Fadahunsi,  APC Senator representing Osun East went viral. I am Yoruba, from Ibadan, and I speak the language fluently. So, I can say unequivocally that the Senator spoke plainly in Yoruba language, not in any parable. In the video, he was seen addressing APC supporters, instructing them that, if they saw any Accord Party members before the election, “pi pa ni o”, meaning “it’s killing o”. His disingenuous attempt to subsequently, twist his utterances into a parable, or claim that he was proverbially telling  his supporters to kill Accord members with votes, is an outright lie. His statement in Yoruba is as straightforward as saying, I’m 61 years old, which is an indisputable fact!  In an atmosphere that has been marred with violence, where it has been reported that at least 40 people have been killed in pre-election violence, so much so that a heavy presence of security had to be deployed there to keep the peace, Senator Fadahunsi, a leading member of the APC opposition in Osun State’s revealing utterances, can certainly not be taken lightly.  Senator Fadahunsi v Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan If Senator Francis Fadahunsi isn’t suspended from the Senate for the crime he appears to have openly committed, inciting and counselling people to murder, then it shows that the Senate is partisan and prone to political witch-hunting. Granted, Senator Fadahunsi’s utterances were ‘ex facie curiae’ (outside the Senate chamber) while  PDP Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’ was ‘in facie curiae’ (inside the Senate chamber) but Legislators are expected to conduct themselves properly at all times and in all places, and distance themselves from socially unacceptable and immoral behaviour, which obviously includes publicly counselling people to be violent or commit crimes.  So, if Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan could be given such a stiff and unconstitutional punishment of 6 months suspension for her outburst on the floor of the Senate last year (see Section 48 of the Constitution and Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly v Rifikatu Samson Danna (2017) 49 W.R.N. (CA), surely Senator Fadahunsi who has not only brought the Senate, the highest lawmaking b

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