Dr. Ali Ahmad is the Chairman, House Committee on Justice and one of the lawmakers in the House of Representatives supporting the new faction of Peoples Democratic Party led by Mr. Kawu Baraje. In this interview with SUCCESS NWOGU, he explains why he and his colleagues are in support of the ‘New PDP’ and dismisses the threat by the main party’s national chairman, Mr. Bamanga Tukur, to declare their seats vacant

Why are you and your colleagues in the House of Representatives in support of breakaway faction  of the PDP led by Mr. Kawu Baraje as the chairman?

The reasons the faction gave for their position is good and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, also confirmed that. There is no doubting the fact that they have good grounds to take that action.  So, we believe in the cause.

Don’t you think this development will stop PDP from being the largest party in Africa   and prevent it  from winning the 2015 elections?

In fact, our action will enhance PDP’s chances because it is a consensus. If nothing is done to rescue the PDP from BamangaTukur’s grip, the party is headed for a complete fall. PDP will lose and lose convincingly. In order to stop that, that is the reason we took this action.

But people say members of the House of Representatives that have joined forces with the  Baraje faction are being used by the dissenting governors to achieve their selfish aims. What is your reaction?

If we are being used, there is nothing bad in that. If we are being used and there is coalition of interest; if my interest converges with the interest of the seven governors, so be it. Politics is all about coalition of interests; but in the old PDP,  you dare not have any other interest than the interest of the grand master.  Where my interest converges with other people’s interest, it is okay!

So who is the grand master?

I leave that to you.

Do you not think that these seven governors may  have alterior motives for their action?

I am not a star gazer that I will know the intention of people. But where our interests converge is about how the falling PDP, which all the members had struggled to build over the years,  should be salvaged. If they want to salvage the PDP and that is what I want to do, and we agree to that, then let us go ahead. But if at some point, they also become dictatorial, we will know because all we are against is the dictatorial tendency of  Tukur.  If you are part of the executive and you become dictatorial, you may escape or be excused. But you can never be excused, if you are part of the legislature or party executives. These are the major platforms of democracy.  These are where you have more of ‘give and take.’ As a party official and a legislator, you can never be a dictator.

Tukur has said he may declare vacant the seats of the legislators that are backing the Baraje-led faction. How do you see this?

That is not possible because he has shown his ignorance of the constitution and he wants to rubbish the constitution.  Anybody that knows the constitution will have an answer for him.  His threat that he will declare our seats vacant shows the character we have in him as the party chairman.

It also shows that he does not have regard for the constitution. Everybody knows that if there is a faction in a party, there is nothing like declaring the seats of the members vacant. But because he does not care about the constitution and that he is dictatorial, that is why he is making such a threat.

There are many unresolved murder cases in the country. What is the way out as the chairman of the justice committee?

This is a problematic issue.  There are a lot of murder cases that we know, from the lowly to the high society murders that we do not have any explanation for. We pretend that this is alright and life goes on. This is very dangerous to the society and to the people’s faith in the judicial system. Once people totally lose faith in the judicial system, that will be unpalatable.

The surprising thing is that those in authority do not seem to realise the consequences of piling up unresolved murder cases. It appears that nobody is alarmed and people think it is another crime.  For me, I believe everybody should be on his guard. This is not normal and those in charge of the murder cases should not allow them to die a natural death.  They should always be mentioned. The law enforcement agencies should go and unmask the perpetrators.

Will private investigators help?

Yes. We need to think seriously in this country about private investigators.  It is something that we should seriously engage our security and intelligence experts in.  But I think we might need to legislate on that. Where the police cannot resolve such a matter, somebody can take up such serious investigation. Private investigation has happened in other places, where an expert takes up the investigation in accordance with the law. The only authority that is investigating is the police and it is not well funded. So, when they  are unable to do proper investigation, that matter dies.  But if there is an alternative platform for investigation and people are not satisfied with the police handling of the investigation, they can be handled by a private investigator, either to work hand in hand with the police or independently.

What about some bribery allegations against the judiciary?

Nobody will condone bribery in the judicial arm of government. Any bribery allegation should be taken seriously. Having said that, I have not seen any allegation of bribery that happened recently and is not being investigated or  dealt with.  Since the assumption of this new National Judicial Council, the body has been engaging in all aspects of judicial reforms. Nigerians are beginning to show appreciation and some level of confidence in the judicial sector. But my fear is that the NJC is an institution. When the term of the chairman and members of the current NJC ends, what happens to the activism we have seen now and the challenge to corrupt judicial officers?

NJC has all the laws and powers but when those who are in authority are either not interested or unwilling in pursuing judicial sanitisation and sanctity, it  then gives cause for concern.

What is your advice?

Issues of judicial activism should not be personalised.  It should not change with leadership. It is something that should remain constant. I think the Nigerian Bar Association should take an active role in ensuring the sanctity of the judicial system.  NBA has over 80 branches across the country.  They have interactions with the judicial officers. We should find a way to institutionalise ‘Alomaism’ in this activism.

Corruption is not only about giving money. Even in appointment,  we have heard how the NJC has been treating appointments, some based on sentimental and primordial considerations.  Some of them did not come through competitive process. It should not be so.  Corruption is not just about giving bribe or a judge going on holidays when he should be sitting. I think Nigerians are now more appreciative and we now have more trust in the judiciary.  This is good for the country because when people no longer have trust and confidence in the judiciary, it is unhealthy.

There have been allegations of corruption but the corrupt ones are very few and those very few ones are now being handled.  Very soon, you will hear people calling on the National Assembly to enact a law criminalising video coverage of law enforcement agencies engaging in unwholesome acts.