Understanding 'Conviction' and 'Sentencing'
By
As the much celebrated case against Governor James Onanefe Ibori of Delta State, alleging previous criminal conviction apparently rolled to a
stop at an Abuja High Court, Monday, it is obvious that our justice administration system soared to a high point - or slumped to a depressing low.
An important pivot around which the Abuja High Court dismissed the suit by the duo of Engr. Goodnews Agbi and Anthony Ossai seeking to stop Governor Ibori
from contesting next April's gubernatorial polls, swung on the academic, legalistic distinction between a sentence and a conviction.
Like the character cast of a low-budget home video production, what appears to be a plot scripted to seize control of the soul of Delta State was played out
leading to Monday's Court judgement. Accusations were rightly, or wrongly leveled at persons suspected to be masterminds of the plot. At one point, the delicate
line between 'victim and villain' was blurring. Even at press time, the last may not have been heard of the Ibori saga. And not without good reason.
To the Kernel of the matter. Following a series of titillating accusations leveled against Ibori, alleging the governor's ex-convict status, and often backed
with captivating shadowy documents, two gentlemen Agbi and Ossai filed a suit at the Gwalgwalada High Court seeking to halt Ibori from this year's governorship
contest.
More specifically, the duo sought for an injunction restraining the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from submitting the governor's name as its governorship
candidate in Delta State. The plantiffs also wanted the Court to determine the issue of whether a person who pleaded guilty and was convicted on a two count
charge of negligent conduct and criminal breach of trust is entitled to stand for the governorship election.
Delivering his epic ruling Monday, the presiding judge, Justice Hussein Baba Yusuf, held that, "With due respect, the record of proceedings doesn't pretend
about what it contains in fact and law. The accused person in the Upper Area Court was never convicted. The substance of guilt was neglected in the proceedings.
The court rather than proceed in section 157 of the Criminal Procedure Act, took a somersaultand made a sentence."
According to the learned trial judge, the only way to answer the question of whether or not there was a conviction, was to look at the records of proceeding
from the Bwari Upper Area Court. This he noted, was the best testimonial to determine the issue of conviction.
He cited the case of Mohammed V. Olawunmi Lasisi (1993) 4 NWLR pt 287 pg 254 particularly at pg 287-288 where it was shown that a sentence cannot be
passedwithout a conviction. The Supreme Court in that judgment delivered by Oguntade JSC, that "There cannot be a sentence without a conviction, once a
conviction is set aside, it follows that any sentence passed has no leg to stand on. This is because a sentence depends on a conviction, which is finding of
guilt. A conviction is an act of a court of competent jurisdiction and a sentence is also different from a conviction."
Based on this, Hussein therefore concluded that "There is no conviction in exhibit 'A', the effect is to sweep the claims of the plaintiffs off the ground. I
dismiss the plaintiffs' pleas accordingly."
In his submissions, Ibori's counsel Alex Izinyon (SAN), had held that the document of the Bwari Upper, Area Court, did not contain the word 'conviction' which
is mandatory before a sentence could be passed on anybody. He argued that, "What is contained in the document of the court was that somebody was sentenced to
pay a fine of N500. 00 or face imprisonment for six months. There was no certificate of conviction, neither was conviction in the Certified True Copy (CTC). The
main issue is whether there was a conviction or not, if anyone was convicted at all. This is an issue of law."
He further argued that the Judge of the Upper Area Court failed to make a finding of guilty before convicting, as such, this failure means that the said accused
person was not convicted in the first instance. Izinyon said he drew this inference from the processes filed. "The basis of the judgment of the Bwari court
CR/81/95 is the issue. It is the foundation of the action. Our submission is that nobody was convicted on the said date, whether James Onanefe Ibori or any
other person. If you look at the document, it shows someone pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a fine of N500.00 or a jail term of 6 months over negligent
conduct and criminal breach of trust contrary to S. 312 and 196 of the Penal Code", the counsel maintained.
The jurisprudential merits of the Abuja high Court ruling - or lack of it, can only be tested via a competent appeal. Given the sensitivity of the case and its
far reaching implications should the scale of justice tilt against Ibori, it was obvious that all the plugs needed to be pulled out to attempt a successful
defence of South-South's vocal young Turk.
If the extant case had gone against Ibori who had earlier threatened to move all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary, it would have signalled an important
shift in the social status-quo and mind-set that villains could eat their cake and have it back.
But in all, what transpired in the last few weeks also calls attention once again to the state of Nigeria's criminal justice administration system, record
keeping and other critical processes related to proper administration of justice. The fact that some documents were alleged to be missing, records obviously
were not appropriately kept and apparent easy infiltration of court archives leaves much to be desired. The journey to re-entrenching sanity in justice system
cannot be over emphasised when viewed against the fundamental linkages it has with a sustainable democracy.
April 2003