Editorial: Rule Of Law In The Midst Of COVID-19 Pandemic

Last week, the governor of Rivers State, H.E Nyesom Wike, sent bulldozers to bring down two hotels for allegedly flouting the COVID-19 lockdown order of his administration. The affected hotels were Prodest Hotel in ALode and Etemeteh Hotel in Onne, both in Eleme Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

Ironically, praises and condemnations have trailed the action of the governor that used an iron fist to enforce the lockdown in his state. The former accused him of executive recklessness and rascality, abuse of power, intimidation, and jungle justice against offenders of his orders. The latter hailed the governor for his bravery in the fight to keep Rivers State safe against the fearless COVID-19. The affected hoteliers were accused of insensitivity and stubbornness, therefore they deserved what came to them.

The question is, was the action of the governor within the ambit of the law. When President Muhammadu Buhari locked down Lagos and Abuja in his first COVID-19 broadcast, some legal minds argued that there is no law in Nigeria backing the lockdown. They argued that the relic Quarantine Act used to issue the lockdown does not make room for locking down a state.

The rule of law is one of the tenets of constitutional democracy. According to Alistair Price, rule of law “requires that our society be ruled by law, and not by the arbitrary (often self-interested) decisions of the small group of men and women who happen to wield public and private power at any given point in time”. Some soldiers and policemen have taken laws into their hands and shot citizens, simply because they have a weapon.

Is Gov. Wike becoming a law to himself? In April, he arrested two pilots of Caverton Helicopters for allegedly flouting his lockdown orders. The company protested that the federal authority gave them the green light to land, also the Federal Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said that Aviation matters are strictly on the exclusive list of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

If we desire a sane society in Nigeria, the supremacy of the law must be upheld by everyone. The Nigerian government is always notorious for upholding the law when it suits them and flouting the same law when tables are turned. This scenario played out when the Code of Conduct Bureau refused to release the asset declarations of President Buhari. The Chairman, Mohammed Isah, said the National Assembly has not set the guidelines to access the asset details of public officers. But the Bureau was quick to release the asset declaration details of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, based on the request by Dennis Aghanya, an ex-aide of President Buhari.

For those arguing in favour of Gov Nyesom Wike, saying that he issued an executive order, they should be reminded that laws should inform everyone about what it requires of them, and what it forbids and the commensurate punishments in case of violation. When laws are vague and hidden, it is a secret wish list of a despot.

When laws are not obeyed, both by public officers and the governed, the society will degenerate into chaos.