Vanguard Lagos

Impeachment: Democracy Alive - Obasanjo

 Ikechukwu Eze

Lagos

PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo said yesterday that the impeachment bid being made against him by the National Assembly was a proof that democracy was alive in Nigeria. The President, who spoke on the Cable News Network (CNN) also fielded questions on the death penalty handed down by courts, stressing that nobody would be stoned to death in Nigeria if the constitution of the land was followed.

(�) Speaking on the sharia question he said: "We have sharia law in our constitution. It has always been part of our lives. We have the Federal Government but states are able to make their own laws. They (states) have their own judiciary. Within the constitution they have powers to make their laws and sustain their own laws. The point really is this, one thing is to say that a particular judgement is given. Another thing is to say that a particular judgement has been carried out. For all I know, nobody has been stoned to death in Nigeria and I believe that if all the provisions of our constitution and our laws are followed, maybe nobody will ever be stoned to death in Nigeria.

He further said: "It is not Amina Lawal alone. You probably forgot there was one Safiya who probably became a celebrity in Rome who was sentenced to death by stoning in Sokoto State. I believe that what happened to Safiya will invariably happen to Amina Lawal. I know how people feel and I know how I feel that these judgements are even given at all. But that is the situation of the federal constitution that we have in our country. And I do hope that sooner than later these cases will get to the Supreme Court and may be the Supreme Court will be able to make definite pronouncement on this. That is the highest court in our land and when the Supreme Court makes a pronouncement that is the highest we can go. And anybody who is dissatisfied is either leaving it to God or unless there is a change of law."