The Advocate By Onikepo Braithwaite Onikepo.braithwaite@thisdaylive.com All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players;” As You Like It, William Shakespeare Last week, as usual, there was drama in Nigeria – a never ending stage; and, we are all aware about how dramatic our Politicians in particular can be. I saw a ludicrous social media forward, claiming that the former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly (LSHA), Mudashiru Obasa, should be allowed to return as Speaker, so that he can resign as Speaker voluntarily or decide if he will resign. How? When the act of the removal of Obasa, has already been completed? And, there was also the usual threat by Labour to strike, if the various tariff increases proposed by Government are implemented. The first drama, is that of Intrigue – the removal of Obasa, though through lawful means, but the fact that he was out town when he was ousted, made his removal all the more sizzling! Remember that a couple of weeks ago I stated that Politicians had trivialised and bastardised the term “gross misconduct”, and even though the definition isn’t exhaustive, they use it when they shouldn’t (see Governor Okpebholo v Edo LGC Chairmen; Governor Yahaya Bello & Kogi State House of Assembly v Deputy Governor Simon Achuba), and ignore it when it is required? In Inakoju & Ors v Adeleke & Ors (2007) LPELR-1510 (SC) per Niki Tobi, JSC, the Supreme Court held inter alia that, a breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers qualifies as gross misconduct and a ground for removal (of a Governor or Deputy). His Lordship also held that, what, in the opinion of the House of Assembly, could constitute gross misconduct, could be abuse of power, stealing of government funds and certificate forgery. Are these not some of the allegations that were levelled against Mr Obasa, and led to his removal? They are. Can Obasa then be spirited back into his former position, given the grievous allegations levelled against him? I think not. Can the allegations just disappear? No. Wasn’t Obasa removed by due process, following a resolution of the LSHA of over two-thirds majority of the members, as required by Section 92(2)(c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)(the Constitution)?Yes, he was. Is there not a process to be followed, in the appointment of a Speaker of the House of Assembly – election, not installation – a process which was followed when Rt. Hon. Mojisola Lasbat Meranda was elected as Speaker of LSHA by a majority of her peers last month? Yes, there is; as provided by Section 92(1) of the Constitution. Women have been shouting from the rooftops, about their marginalisation as far as governance is concerned; while Lagosians also have the same complaint, about being sidelined and relegated in the governance of their State. And, even if Lagos State may be a melting pot, it definitely has indigenes, and for the first time in history, LSHA has a Speaker that ticks both boxes, as not only is Rt. Hon. Meranda female, she’s an indigene of Lagos State (see Section 42 of the Constitution on discrimination). The Nigerian Legislature, be it Federal or State, is a Boys Club; female membership is at an all time low. And so, the women and Lagosians are saying, “the optics are good, the decision to elect Rt. Hon. Meranda is good – òmò wa ni, è jè o se (she’s our child, let her do it)”. Beyond that, it is the hope of all the residents of Lagos State, that Rt. Honourable Meranda lives up to the confidence reposed in her, and performs creditably. Congratulations, Madam Speaker! Treachery and the Minimum Wage Greek Gift The second drama, is that of Betrayal involving a Greek gift, that is, a gift that you give to someone with your right hand, and take back with your left hand! And, while I’m certainly not referring to the new N70k minimum wage as a gift, because it is not – it is workers’ wages for their services, it doesn’t even appear to qualify as the ‘reasonable national minimum living wage’ contemplated by Section 16(2)(d) of the Constitution. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines Greek gift as “a gift given or a favour done with a treacherous purpose”. This appears to be what Government is doing to the Nigerian workers. Treachery of course, is betrayal of trust or deception. Last year, the national minimum wage was increased from N30k to N70k per month (see the National Minimum Wage Act 2024 (NMWA)), Aside from the fact that the agreement reached with Labour is that the minimum wage will now be reviewed every three years instead of five years, the reason for the compromise from a higher figure to N70k was on the understanding that petrol pump prices wouldn’t be increased. And, although the new tax reform initiative has also loudly proclaimed that workers that earn the minimum wage won’t pay tax, they will certainly end up paying it indirectly, probably even more, with the gradual increase in VAT that had been mooted in the tax reform bills, and the proposed tariff hikes. The treachery started with the increase in the pump price of petrol, with the justification that petrol prices are tied to the international market price of oil, so that, when oil prices increase, so does the petrol price. Subsequently, practically every other rate and tariff started to go up! Nigerians may end up in a worse position, than when they were earning N30k. As it is, the rate of inflation is high – food prices, transport fare etc are much higher today than six years ago, when the minimum wage was increased to N30k; now there’s a proposal for the introduction of toll gates on selected Federal roads; electricity tariff already went up in 2024, and Government is considering another 65% increase; now the Telco tariff is also being increased. People are using their phones more instead of physical movement, because of the higher cost of transport, and now the cost of this means of communication, the next best alternative to physical interaction, is to be increased? What will be left for workers to live on, after all these increases? A take home pay that doesn’t take you to the bus stop, let alone home! Miscarriage of Justice It appears that Government is observing the Constitution in its breach – Nigerians are unhappy, and their welfare has been jeopardised by these Government policies – see Sections 14(2)(b) & 16(1)(b) of the Constitution. A wage increase given by Government, and taken back by incessant increases in all sorts of tariffs! Treachery against Nigerians, a miscarriage of justice, because if justice is synonymous with equity, fairness and equitability, majority will agree that policy makers have not been very fair to Nigerians. In Pam & Anor v Mohammed (2008) LPELR-2895(SC) per Niki Tobi, JSC, his Lordship in his dissenting judgement, defined miscarriage of justice as a failure of justice. Also see Akayepe & Anor v Akayepe (2009) LPELR-326(SC) per Mahmud Mohammed, JSC. In litigation, a judicial officer is required to exercise discretion ‘judicially and judiciously’. The phrase essentially means, handing down decisions that are lawful and sound. See the case of Francis v FRN (2020) LPELR-52520(SC) per Ejembi Eko, JSC, on the proper exercise of discretion. Government does not appear to have exercised its discretion ‘judicially and judiciously’, in the matter of the minimum wage and tariff increase, and this has led to a miscarriage of justice against Nigerians. In Eye v FRN (2018) LPELR-43599(SC) per Sidi Dauda Bage, JSC, the Supreme Court held that “…the essential difference between an arbitrary or wrongful exercise of discretion, on the one hand, and judicial cum judicious exercise of it on the other, is that whereas, the former is the exercise of it with either no reason at all or with wrong or insufficient, correct and convincing reason. While judicial and judicious exercise of discretion is acceptable in law, an arbitrary exercise of it is not”. In the context of the Government seeking to increase tariffs anyhow, one can interpret the term arbitrary as unrestrained and autocratic (see the Oxford Dictionary), and conclude that this arbitrary exercise is unacceptable. It’s just too much for Nigerians to bear. Yet, Government, both Federal and State, are happy to waste scarce funds on funding ventures like religious pilgrimages, marriages, ostentatious living expenses for public officials, and purchase of expensive state of the art vehicles for them, instead of redirecting such funds into productive ventures that benefit the people. Declaratory Judgement? Unfortunately, some believe that the reason why Government is able to continuously get away with this kind of miscarriage of justice against Nigerians, particularly in matters such as this tariff hike issue, is because Labour’s bark seems to be worse than its bite – similar to a declaratory judgement that merely declares the existence of a legal relationship, and does not contain any order which may be enforced against the Defendant – see the case of Okoya & Ors v Santilli & Ors (1990) LPELR-2504(SC) per Abdul Ganiyu Olatunji Agbaje, JSC where the Apex Court held that “A declaratory judgement is complete in itself, since the relief is the declaration”. In Government of Gongola State v Tukur 1989 4 NWLR Part 117 Page 392 per Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa, JSC, the Supreme Court likened a declaratory judgement to “a toothless bulldog which can only bark….but cannot bite to vindicate his overt anger and aggression”. Even on the part of Government too – the N70k minimum wage was agreed upon and proclaimed and declared by the NMWA, but, to date, it appears that not all the States have started to pay it. No wonder, cynics have even gone as far as accusing the Federal Government and Labour of colluding! This isn’t what is meant to occur. The second step, that is, the follow up proceedings for the declaratory judgement to be enforced, is required. Conclusion It is advisable that Government perishes the thought of all these tariff hikes. I agree with Mr Dele Kelvin Oye, Chairman of the Organised Private Sector of Nigeria who said in an interview on Arise TV last week that, “It’s also about the ability to pay. You cannot continue to tax people out of existence”. It’s time for Government to get innovative, and start to harness and generate income from the vast resources that Nigeria is endowed with, instead of leaving the Chinese to harness them and profit illegally from same; or constantly looking to pick only what it deems to be the lowest hanging fruits, most of which have already been plucked from the tree. It’s also not only about increasing Government revenue by raising taxes and tariffs, because the downside of this is that, its not just reducing consumer spending which doesn’t impact positively on economic growth, its bankrupting Nigerians. Government, let Nigerians breathe!