Bulkachuwa, the judiciary and the limits of parliamentary privilege 

Not a few Nigerians were scandalized when last week, Senator Muhammad Adamu Bulkachuwa — the former Senator representing Bauchi North Senatorial District threw caution to the wind and uttered the most bizarre and atrocious of statements that are bound to push the limits of parliamentary privilege; at least in a well-organized democracy. 

At the valedictory session held in honour of the 9th Senate, Senator Bulkachuwa while rendering his valedictory remarks unwittingly threw his wife and the Nigerian judiciary under the bus, in a moment of verbal incontinence. It would take the awkward intervention of former Senate President Ahmed Lawan to save the day. But by the time he did, the deed had been done.

In the unmistaken words of Senator Bulkachuwa, “I look at faces in this chamber who have come to me and sought my help when my wife was the President of the Court of Appeal and I am sure….And I must thank particularly my wife, whose freedom and independence I encroached upon while she was in office, and she has been very tolerant and accepted my encroachment, and extended her help to my colleagues”.

Until her retirement in March 2020, Justice Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa was the President of the Nigerian Court of Appeal – a highly influential judicial office which has direct prerogative in the empanelling of Election Petition Tribunals at the end of every round of elections in Nigeria.

Senator Bulkachuwa’s timely ‘confessional statement’ has once again brought in sharp focus the age-long disputations about the independence of the judiciary. Coming at a time when many Nigerians are looking up to that critical institution vis-à-vis- how it handles the hundreds of litigations on the back of the recently concluded but highly controversial 2023 general elections, not a few hopes would have been dashed by those who expected nothing but absolute justice in the determination of these cases, particularly those at the Presidential Election Petition Court.

As expected, Senator Bulkachuwa has since enlisted in his own defence. In an interview with the BBC Hausa Service, he claims that his remarks were construed out of context and that he was not given the opportunity to put his thoughts in proper perspective before he was caught short by the former senate president.

But that line of defence is not persuasive enough. It is what is called an afterthought at law. If anything, the surrounding evidence from our socio-cultural experience flattens Senator Bulkachuwa’s well-rehearsed defence. Not when he spoke with so much clarity that no one could suggest that his words were taken out of context.

As a matter of fact, the comments attributed to a very Senior Lawyer and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association – Mr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN makes the issue even more complicated. In a statement last Tuesday, Agbakoba indicated that his law firm had represented one Usman Tuggar – an APC Senatorial Candidate in relation to disputed elections between him and Senator Bulkachuwa for the Bauch North Senatorial District – a case presided over by Hon. Justice Bulkachuwa, and that they lost in three courts. Indeed, it is against this backdrop that he makes a case for the immediate arrest of the Senator.

To its credit, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has also weighed into the matter. In a statement signed by its President – Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, SAN on June 14, 2023, the NBA condemned the comments attributed to the Senator which it said is “capable of undermining the independence of the judiciary and the impartiality of the judicial process”.

I am also aware that the NBA has since petitioned the Inspector General of Police and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for the immediate investigation of the Senator.

It remains to be seen however what becomes of those steps which for now are at best symbolic. Assuming law enforcements rise up to the occasion however, it will be interesting to see whether those comments attributed to the Senator are not saved by parliamentary immunity under Section 1 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act which protects lawmakers from civil or criminal liability in respect of words spoken or written at the plenary session or at Committee proceedings of a Legislative House.

That being said, it is quite worrying that as of the time of this writing, the National Judicial Council (NJC) headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria has not considered the matter serious enough to make its position known. At the 102^nd meeting of the Council which was held last week, it somehow managed to rise from the meeting without as much as discussing the issue. To many observers of the Nigerian state, this is the first indication that the matter would be sooner than later, swept under the proverbial carpet.

Justice Bulkachuwa has also been forced to come out of retirement to plead her defence. In a statement on 17^th June 2023, she repudiated the interpretation of judicial compromise on her part saying “such was from the truth”. “I want to categorically state that I never at any time compromised my oath of office to favour any party who appeared before me throughout my judicial, career spanning 40 years of service to my country”, she claims.

Whilst no one may know with any degree of certainty where the truth lies in all of these, it is good that the retired justice has come out in the open to set the records straight; at least from her own perspective. Whether she is believable is a different kettle of fish entirely which is subject to the court of public opinion.

But the ugly fallout from this embarrassing episode is the continuously declining public confidence in the Nigerian judiciary. A recent survey by Anvarie Tech and ResearcherNG and Bincika Insights reported that a staggering 71% of Nigerians lack trust in the judiciary.

Comments such as those attributed to Senator Bulkachuwa do not help in improving the numbers. If anything, they justify the public disavowal of the judiciary which has not been helped by highly controversial judgments that defy logic and stand the law on its head such as those that returned Senators Ahmed Lawan and Godswill Akpabio to the 10th National Assembly.

A lawyer and public interest analyst, Raymond is of Ken Ahia SAN & Associates. My Twitter handle: @raymondnkannebe