EDITORIAL: Governor Uzodinma’s obnoxious law
The Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, has signed into law the Imo State Administration Of Criminal Bill No 2 of 2020 (ISACJL, 2020), which empowers him to arrest and detain any resident of the state for as long as he wishes.
According to documents, any person detained on the orders of Chief Uzodinma can only be released when he grants a licence to the said individual.
It also abolished all forms of preliminary inquiry or preliminary investigation into a criminal charge by a magistrate or any court in the state and replaced them with preparation of proof of evidence.
We live in an age and in a country where democracy and democratic norms hold sway. Every citizen is governed by provisions of the Constitutions and other statutes as entrenched or encapsulated in our law books.
A law enacted by any governor or government which contradicts the principles of fair play, justice and equity should not have been promulgated in the first place.
We are not in the Stone Age or the era of absolute powers of potentates or rulers who could detain or release persons at will.
It is against this background that we must examine the law recently passed and assented to by Governor Hope Uzodinma, the man who came into office through the strange mathematics of the highest court in the land.
Section 484 of the ISACJL, 2020 provides “that where any person is ordered to be detained during the governor’s pleasure, he shall notwithstanding anything in the ISACJL, 2020 or contained in any other written law liable to be detained in such place and under such conditions as the governor may direct and whilst so detained shall be in proper custody’.
At first glance, we pinch ourselves to remind us that this is not a case of fake news or an exaggeration of the true provisions of the law.
But so far, there has been no rebuttal by the government of Imo State or any of its agents. Bad as the law which states that the governor can detain people at his pleasure, there are yet other outrageous provisions.
For example, Section 485(1) states “that a person detained during the governor’s pleasure may at any time be discharged by the governor on licence which said licence may be in such form and in such conditions as the governor may direct under section 485(2)”.
Licence of release in 21st century Nigeria? But insult is added to injury in the next provision of the Act. In Section 485(3) of the same law, a “licence may at any time be revoked or varied by the governor and where licence has been revoked, the person to whom the person the licence relates shall proceed to such place as the governor may direct and if he fails to do so, may be arrested without warrant and taken to such place.”
Where does Hope Uzodinma think he is in?
The vexatious law does not detail the infractions for which the governor may be at pleasure to order someone’s detention.
It could be for anything as bad as asking that the governor pays civil servants their entitlements. It could be for holding a legitimate aspiration to run for an election in the state or to freely associate with legitimate political organizations.
It could even be for deciding to go to school or attend church service or for admiring a beautiful woman, who coincidentally, the governor fancies.
The vacuousness of sections 485(3) of the law is further accentuated by the provision that a detainee may be released only by getting a licence from the governor.
This licence may be likened to paying ransom for a kidnapped victim. And by that provision, the licence will be provisional and could be revoked at any time.
To compound an already bad situation, there is also another provision that authorises the governor to ‘banish such individuals should they default on the terms of their ‘release licences.’
Expressing shock over the outcome of the bill he sponsored, the member representing Oguta State Constituency and Deputy Minority Leader, Mr. Frank Ugboma, decried the final outcome of the bill which he sent saying that it “smacks of an evil manipulation to throw Imo people into the dungeon”.
From the above analysis, one could see clearly that Imo has a governor who is dreaming his dreams backwards into the Stone Age.
The law should be tested in the law courts till it gets to the highest court in the land.
We are at a loss over how and why a governor in this 21st Century could imagine that such an anachronistic law could be implemented in Imo State where we have citizens that know their rights.
This is most disrespectful to the sensibilities of Imo State indigenes, renowned for their intellectualism, political awareness, stubbornness, and exposure.
It is our considered view that the governor, in the interest of the peace and harmony, in the state should withdraw his assent to the controversial bill.
He should represent it to the State Assembly for amendment or repeal.
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The members of the House of Assembly who have come out to denounce this lawlessness passed off as law should exercise their rights and override the governor’s assent by a two third majority if that is the only way to save the state from the disgrace of impunity as represented by this law.
Finally, we are also of the opinion that the state does not need other laws other than the ones provided for in the 1999 Federal Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) which makes provisions for offenders that can be detained on the orders of the state governor.
