ZION B-BC NEWSLETTER. [ A Publication of the Zion Faith Bible-Believing Church, Kpeyegyi, Abuja Nigeria. ] { VOL. 2. NO 45. 22-06-14.} IMMUNITY LAW, SECURITY FUNDS AND ‘NOLLE PROSEQUI’, FOR STEALING WITH IMPUNITY! The controversial Immunity Law in the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, considered as a slap on democratic norms, and which has generated public attention, debate and argument over the years, will be expunged, if the recent recommendation by the National Conference delegates holds sway! Chapter VIII, Section 308 (1-3), titled, Restriction of Legal Proceedings, states: “Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Constitution, but subject to subsection (2) of this section- (a) no civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against a person to whom this section applies during his period of office, (b) a person to whom this section applies shall not be arrested or imprisoned during that period either in pursuance of the process of any court or otherwise, and (c) no process of any court requiring or compelling the appearance of a person to whom this section applies, shall be applied for or issued: Provided that in ascertaining whether any period of limitation has expired for the purposes of any proceedings against a person to whom this section applies, no account shall be taken of his period of office. (2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to civil proceedings against a person to whom this section applies in his official capacity or to civil or criminal proceedings in which such a person is only a nominal party. (3)This section applies to a person holding the office of President or Vice President, Governor or Deputy Governor, and the reference in this section to “period of office” is a reference to the period during which the person holding such office is required to perform the functions of the office. In a nutshell, the civil servants mentioned in the preceding paragraph, are shielded from the rule of law with official immunity against any form of arrest, prosecution or imprisonment, during their tenure of office, no matter the criminal offences committed! We are made to understand that the drafters of this constitution in their wisdom envisaged the smooth-running of the administration of government without litigation distractions. We have no doubt that their intention was very noble but past experiences of abuse of this law during the various political dispensations in Nigeria, have exposed demonic ingenuity of the beneficiaries in the gross abuse of the law! To them, the immunity law was a passport to large scale corruption, which successive generation of Nigerians at home and the Diaspora have vehemently and consistently condemned since our independence. While we commend the National Conference for this laudable recommendation, we need to remind the citizens that any effort at eradicating corruption in our nation with the present crop of leadership will remain an effort in futility; and our reasons are very germane! (1)Powers and control over public funds is open to abuse by the beneficiaries of the immunity law. (2) Although all revenues or other moneys raised or received, shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund(CRF) of the Federation, there is a loop hole for siphoning monies through “other public fund of the Federation established for a specific purpose”, by any incumbent President and not known to any Act of the National Assembly! (3)Accountability in respect of fiscal appropriation and expenditure by government is non-existent because the auditing mechanisms have no backing of the law! For instance, the Auditor-General of the Federation, has no constitutional powers to appoint or contract external auditors to counter-check governments expenditures to ensure credibility and accountability! (4) There are several so-called ESCROW ACCOUNTS (Interest-yielding accounts) known to the Minister of Finance and the executive President, which can come in handy for exigencies of the ruling party without raising inquisitive public eye brows of the Civil Societies. There are also the SECURITY FUNDS, which are “inalienable rights” of the President and State Governors, meant to be disbursed or expended at their whims and caprices for security-related issues with no questions or accountability required! Some governors collect between N6 to N8 billion naira, during each tenure, while that of Mr. President is UNLIMITED! During the eight- tenure of President Olusegun Obasanjo, funds were sourced from the secret (Escrow) account of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), to fund the ruling party’s expenditures without the knowledge of the National Assembly, until, the ‘do-or-die’ quarrel between him and his Vice, Atiku Abubakar! There are so many other hidden accounts in the Oil and Gas Sector which cannot be seen by ordinary eyes of the citizens but suffice it to state here that, whether, in or out of office, the beneficiaries of the immunity law can always wriggle out of prosecution in our law courts through a submission of NOLLE PROSEQUI, (a legal Latin expression), one of the powers conferred upon the Attorney-General, who is the Chief Law Officer according to the Constitution, to discontinue any criminal offence against a law of the State at any stage thereof, before judgement. This Chief Law Officer is empowered to enter a ‘nolle prosequi’, either by stating in court or informing the court in writing that the proceedings in any criminal case, shall not continue and thereupon, the accused shall be at once discharged in respect of the charge or information for which the ‘nolle prosequi was entered. This obnoxious power that runs contrary to the rule of law played out recently in the criminal case of the State versus Mohammed Abacha, son of a late one-time military ruler in Nigeria. The accused who was charged with stealing N446.3 billion naira belonging to the Federal Government, was set free by Mr. Mohammed Adoke, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation who withdrew all charges through, a ‘nolle prosequi’ asking the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, to strike them out in spite of a recent judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria that, Mohammed Abacha HAS A CASE TO ANSWER IN RESPECT OF THE THEFT CHARGE! We condemn this abuse of power as an impunity and effrontery against equity and justice which God-fearing citizens of Nigeria jealously uphold and cherish and we equally challenge Mr. Adoke to justify the reasons behind this financial sabotage against the Nigerian Treasury and the greater masses of the nation dwelling in abject poverty and penury! In the sixteenth year anniversary of his death, Abacha, who was globally condemned as the worst ruler of his generation, has again robbed Nigerians through his son, because the stolen N446.3billion in question remains the property of WE THE PEOPLE and not of his family or the corrupt leaders of this generation whom GOD and posterity will definitely judge, in spite of Adoke’s ‘nolle prosequi’! It is now obvious that the stage is now set for more acts of impunity by President Jonathan’s administration which believes that, “STEALING IS NOT CORRUPTION” and had embarked on a mission of, ‘Let’s forgive and forget about the rogues and their loots and move to the next level in 2015! *The convicted former governor of Balyesa State, has been told, “You are forgiven, go and sin no more. Sit comfortably as our observer and distinguished delegate at the National Conference in Abuja”! *A convicted former Nigeria Ports Authority Chairman [NPA], has been told by the Supreme Court, “Your conviction by the lower court was an error of judgement, you are now a free man…in fact, you never stole any money.” *A former Northern State Governor, still on trial for embezzlement, is currently the Main Man of the ruling party! *A former one-term South-West Governor currently in court for theft charges was cleared to participate in the Ekiti Gubernatorial Elections and has been declared winner! *The stable of the former NPA Chairman, has just produced the incumbent Director General of the National Drug and Law Enforcement Agency [NDLEA]! Electioneering campaigns for the general elections would soon be flagged off by “Independent” National Electoral Commission [INEC] and the ruling party would need lots of funds to recover all the States recently lost to the All Progressive Party [APC]; therefore Jonathan Administration must play the role of the biblical Unjust Steward who was accused of wasting his rich master’s goods. In the account recorded in Luke 16:1-13, the unjust steward who was about to lose his job, summoned all his master’s debtors, slashed all individual debts by half, produced new forged bills that would procure favour for him in retirement! In conclusion of the parable, the Lord Jesus, asked the following salient question: “And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either, he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”[verses 12-13]. Has the ruling party forgotten so soon that, they are SERVANTS to the good People of this great Nation? No sinner will go unpunished because the ultimate judge is JEHOVAH SABAOTH WHO SAYS ,WOE UNTO THEM THAT CALL EVIL GOOD, AND GOOD EVIL; THAT PUT DARKNESS FOR LIGHT AND LIGHT FOR DARKNESS; THAT PUT BITTER FOR SWEET, AND SWEET FOR BITTER.[Isa.5:20]. THE TIME IS SHORT, FOR THE LORD HAS SPOKEN! If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, don’t miss this great opportunity as you pray this prayer: Lord Jesus; I confess that I am a sinner who needs to be saved through the grace of the New Testament of your Blood, shed on the Cross at Calvary; I renounce every sin in my life and accept you as my Lord and Saviour. Please forgive me and write my name in the Book of Life. Amen. If you prayed this prayer, you have been admitted into the family of sons and daughters of God, who are born-again. Congratulations. Please look forward to more divine revelation in the next edition of Zion B-BC Newsletter as you share this with friends and remain blessed in the Lord. [For weekly access,to this newsletter, log on to: facebook.com/zionfaithbible.believingchurch & Zfbbc1.blogspot.com] I am, Yours sincerely,Dr. David B.A. Olufon, Resident Pastor and Editor.08058436756 08098194390.g-mail- dvdolufon@gmail.com .