Asiwaju Tinubu’s Acquittal: The Greater Benefit Is For Nigerian People —Fashola

As the Code of Conduct Tribunal Wednesday acquitted former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of charges brought against him, his successor in office, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has described the judgment of the tribunal as being of great benefit to all Nigerians.

Governor Fashola, who spoke with Airport Correspondents at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, on his arrival from Abuja, said the judgment showed that “there is still the capacity of the Judiciary to independently assess matters brought before it in a way that shows that the rights of citizens are not trampled upon”.

He said one of the findings of the tribunal was that there seemed to be a persistent harassment of the applicant with petty processes and charges, adding, “This is not sustainable or, indeed, permissible in a constitutional democracy”.

According to the governor, “The court was assisted by counsel who appeared for both sides in the maiden case where a lot of profound issues as it relates to how the Code of Conduct Bureau should operate, what it can do, what it cannot do; the processes by which it should do it”.

“This is, perhaps, a maiden case where all of these issues are adjudicated. In a sense, therefore, our public life will be better for this judgment, will be enriched by it and by the jurisprudence that it offers”, Fashola said.

Commending members of the tribunal and the lawyers for both parties for the part they played in the judgment, Fashola declared: “I think the court received as much assistance as it needed. Of course, there would always be the point as to whether or not the tribunal would assert its independence and you see it from the resolution of all the five issues submitted before it. The tribunal resolved two of them in favour of the prosecution, but three were resolved in favour of the accused person”.

“These were most fundamental in the sense that the prosecution’s case could not have stood should any one of the issues be resolved in favour of the accused person. Again, it is standard practice that where the jurisdiction of the court is in question and the court finds that it has no jurisdiction, it should, nevertheless, determine all the issues so that should there be any appeal, there will be a completeness of adjudication before the Court of Appeal”, the governor further explained, adding that it was the practice as he knew it before joining public service.

On the December 2, 2011 governorship election in Kogi State, Fashola said it is an opportunity for the people of Kogi to make the change they desire, pointing out that there was no sense in voting in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on sentiment and then coming back few months later to complain of lack of social amenities.

According to the governor, who described himself as an optimist, “I think the PDP will have an uphill task in a free and fair election to persuade people to keep it in office given its persistent record of failure across the country”.

“When you look at the economy that is tottering and floundering the way the nation’s economy is and you look at the percentage of the economy that is in control of the PDP, you will ask yourself why should any normal person trust anybody within the PDP to continue to manage the affairs of a local government or a state or any election at the national level”, the governor said.

According to him, “This is not a case when people will vote in a government of the PDP and in three months time begin to complain of lack of water and lack of electricity. But the truth is that you had the opportunity to make a change. We hope that the people of Kogi State will rise up this time and make a change”.

“The people of Kogi must realise that the change they seek is in their hands; the change they desire is in their ballot papers. It is only for them to utilise them and effect the desired change”, the governor said.