. Senate President Ahmad Lawan
May 29: Abolish oath of office now
By Uji A. Iliyasu
On May 29, 2023, President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, governors-elect,
lawmakers-elect, and then ministers in the incoming federal cabinet,
will take oath of office.
Methinks the fundamental reason for taking oath of office is to avoid
a scene where public officeholders place personal interest above
public interest. Following that, is to eradicate favoritism,
ethnicity, religious bigotry and general corruption in the polity.
In Nigeria, are we getting the desired result for holding our public
officers from the president to the councillor in the local government
area to swear by Holy Books? We don’t need a soothsayer to tell us
that the oath has not achieved what we intended, but rather has
achieved more unintended but damaging consequences. We need to
understand the import of breaching an oath sworn with holy books. Our
Christian or Muslim clergymen can help explain to their congregations
the consequences of such action.
To take oath, we hold the Holy Bible and Holy Quran in hand or wear it
on our shoulder and say: “I hereby solemnly declare, swear and pledge
that in the service of my country,
I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Federal Republic of
Nigeria at all times;
I will not discriminate on the basis of religion, tribe, cult, or
status or practise any form of partiality in the performance of my
official duties;
I will always place service to the public above selfish interests,
realising that a public office is a public trust;
I will always perform my official duties diligently and efficiently
and will not engage or be involved in any activity in conflict either
directly or indirectly with this pledge;
I will, in the performance of my official duties, eschew and expose
corruption and will also not corrupt others or aid or abet corruption
in any of its facets in and outside the public service;
I will always follow the path of justice, honesty and concord amongst
all the people of Nigeria in all I do. So help me God.”
But unfortunately, the swearing-in ritual is the avenue where some of
our public officeholders ever touch the Holy Book in their life. In
this way, they swear carelessly without understanding the import and
significance of their proclamation. The result is more corruption by
the corruptible and more wickedness by the wicked.
Thus, the oath of office has done more harm than good. Therefore, it
should be abolished now, even before May 29, 2023. It is possible for
the National Assembly to complete its legislative process within the
days left, or alternatively, a constitutional lawyer should stop the
process through court injunction.
Public servants should not be compelled by any official oath to do
good for their compatriots; rather we should be guided by humanity and
our conscience, to reduce the ugly consequences of the breach of oaths
that visit generations of Nigerians.
It is ridiculous that even among the student union governments, union
leaders, young men and women without scruples because of newness of
age, are made to swear by Holy Books.
Let be said any public officers who are not sure of their uprightness,
could refuse to swear. By so doing, it will help to reduce criminals
and corrupt officials in the polity, who are products of accursed
generations of official oath-takers.
Abolishing oath is good for our brand of democracy; it is good for
the country, because the punishment for going against the holy books
come back to us all as a nation, some tenfold, some a hundredfold.
Even in United States, official oath of office by president-elect,
using the Holy Bible, is not compulsory.
In 1789, George Washington took the oath of office with an altar Bible
borrowed from New York. Subsequent presidents, up to, and including
Harry S. Truman, followed in his footstep. But Franklin Pierce used
the word “affirm” rather than “swear.” It was often argued that
Herbert Hoover used “affirm” as well. Theodore Roosevelt did not use
the Bible when taking the oath in 1901, nor did John Quincy Adams, who
swore on a book of law, with the intention that he was swearing on the
constitution
After all the Holy Bible says, “But above all things, my brethren,
swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any
other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall
into condemnation.”
The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (SAW), has forbidden the Muslims from
swearing by anything other than Allah. He said, “Allah forbade you to
swear by your fathers. Whoever takes an oath, should swear by Allah or
be silent.” We should note that the Holy Quran is words of Allah, but
not Allah.
To know that public officers in Nigeria cannot keep oath of office,
look at what we call African time. An invitee to an event will arrive
the venue hours after the normal time, and when we say, we are coming,
it means we are going. When we swear, we mean we are not swearing.
My elected compatriots please don’t swear by anything; just be guided
by Usman dan Fodio who says, “Conscience is an open wound, only truth
can heal it.”