Two separate but related cases which happened in the Nasarawa state House of Assembly recently are painful reminders of the type of persons who wish to rule over the rest of us.
In one instance, the membership of a member of the Assembly, Alhaji Yakubu Abdulhameed Kwarra, who represented Wamba constituency, was voided by the state election tribunal.
Alhaji Kwarra, a third term member of the Assembly, having been elected in 1999, re-elected in 2003 and 2007, was said to have submitted a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and upon which, he was cleared to stand for the election.
However, the Justice Rita Pemu election tribunal in its judgment submitted that available evidence before it proved beyond reasonable doubt that Yakubu Kwarra declared false education qualification to INEC. Accordingly, the election of Kwarra was nullified and a bye-election ordered.
An aggrieved party, Mr Innocent Largi, a lawyer who contested the same position with Kwarra on the platform of the Labour Party had approached the tribunal, insisting that Kwarra was not qualified to stand for the election. Kwarra belongs to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The effort of Largi must be commended in this regard, because but for him, Kwarra would still be in the Assembly pretending to be making laws for a society and people he was, all along, cheating.
Sadly, Kwarra was cleared by INEC, which claimed to have duly screened the candidate for the poll. It must be noted that it is the duty of the electoral body to screen all candidates and to clear or disqualify them for the elections.
We must therefore agree with Justice Pemu who berated INEC for doing a poor job of the screening of the candidate who, has stood for the same election three consecutive times.
And in all these years, INEC could not discover the lie in the certificate claimed to have been obtained by Alhaji Kwarra.
What then is the essence of the screening? Who knows the many others who had made such false claims and are at present enjoying the benefits therefrom.
In another instance, Mr. Patrick Ebiny, who represented Udege/Loko constituency of the same Nasarawa state was said to have voluntarily resigned from the House, when it became certain that his false certificate would be discovered.
He claimed to have obtained a diploma certificate from a school that offers only national certificate of education.
Fearing arrest, the false lawmaker had gone into hiding and from there, resigned his membership of the House. These are, indeed, interesting developments, which go to show that the nation's democracy is gradually gathering stature, colour and character.
Yet, it is important to note that forgery in whatever form or shape is a criminal offence. It is in this light that the cases of Alhaji Kwarra and Mr Ebiny must be seen.They are not political offences, neither can they be internal party affairs.
Accordingly, the police and the state should go ahead and prosecute the culprits to ensure that the law takes its rightful course.
Besides, all the salaries, allowances and any other privileges extended or paid to these lawmakers should be recovered. Indeed, they should be made to pay back all entitlements collected as a result of their membership of the Assembly because they were not qualified, in the first place, to be there.
It can only be imagined what quality of law these so-called lawmakers would have made while in the House, given their lack of moral base to make any law for a decent society.
Their refund of such monies paid to them and their subsequent prosecution would serve as a deterrent for would-be criminals of their ilk.
EDITORIAL
Daily Champion
Friday, September 7, 2007
