Okenyi Kenechi
The attorney-general of any state or country is sometimes described as a “chief law officer”. The position is imbued with both the moral authority and intellectual excellence; the occupier oversees a continent of cases involving the state, advising the executive on the best legal route to take; but he has no instruments of defined political powers, just legal.
The position, with its elegance and troubles, seems built specifically for Mr Emmanuel Aguma, the 5th attorney-general of Rivers State since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule.
Sensing the enormous legal contraptions his administration had dived into after the keenly contested 2015 gubernatorial election, Nyesom Wike, the Governor of Rivers State, went to work in a bid to populate the critical sectors of his cabinet with the best.
The governor, a product of the legal system, was not just looking for the best but the best and finest of the best. In all, the choice for the respected position of the attorney-general stood out, and there, in his glory, was the finest of them all, Emmanuel Aguma, who had risen to the enviable height of Senior Advocate and was known for being a moral authority in the profession.
Soft-spoken, calculative and calm, Mr Aguma had the patience of a prince and with a finesse of a general schooled in the art of war. This was evident in the way he carried himself while he discharged his duties with utmost excellence, leading so many legal interventions in the state, most especially the Tribunal that ensured the victory of Governor Wike.
In a country where the law is trashed and government officials act with impunity, in Aguma, the law was supreme and he made sure that the state government which he served with diligence never strayed from the rule of law.
Aguma died on August 10th at the age of 57 leaving a vacuum that will be difficult to fill. Irrespective of his many interventions and shortcomings, many will remember him for drawing the attention of the state to the illegal activity of the then Rivers State Governor and current minister of transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, over his appointment of Justice Peter Agumagu as Acting Chief Judge in 2013.
Shortly after the appointment was announced, Mr Aguma, who has been a leading light of the Nigerian Bar Association for many years, distributed a written statement in which he angrily accused Amaechi of acting illegally and pointed out that:
“Section 271(4) of the 1999 Constitution makes it absolutely clear that when the office of the Chief Judge is for any reason vacant…the Governor shall appoint the most senior Judge of the High Court as the acting Chief Judge.
He took over the reign of the state’s legal office, rebuilding a tattered and battered system that suffered years of neglect and political interferences.
With the sacking of the newly elected council chairmen, he quickly went to work, arguing finely in defence of the state government both at the high court and at the appeal court.
One of his excellent quotes was in respect of the supreme court ruling that affirmed the election of governor Wike. He said:
“What the judgment of the Supreme Court that affirmed the electoral victory of Governor Wike on the 27th of January, 2016, did was to take back from manipulative politicians, their nefarious powers and affirm that through the judicial system, people can actually get justice, because both the decisions of the Court of Appeal and the tribunal in that particular case, which I followed were, to say the least, perverse and were devoid of any legal principles. They upturned existing principles on their head.”
Mr Aguma was very charismatic in approach and eloquent in mannerism and laboured tirelessly to revitalise the state’s legal institutions at a time that could be likened to a war.
He fought for what he believed in, his profession, his party and humanity at large and will be remembered for his dedication and humility to service. His ideologies and principles, especially within the confines of the legal profession will live forever in the hearts of those who have had the privilege of meeting him professionally.
The sage lives on.
