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Kanu |
It
is no longer a subject of grammatical, political, legal and public debate
whether or not Nigeria of
Buhari’s civilian presidency is tyrannical-cum-dictatorial; as the country is fully back
in dictatorship or chained
democracy. Nigerians
should also not lose sleep or express surprises over recent or ongoing public
antics and pro-dictatorial comments of the Attorney General of the Federation,
Mallam Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the likes of Prof Itse Sagay, SAN and Senator
Ali Ndume, Senate Majority Leader; rather all Nigerians particularly the
Nigerian Bar Association and other democratic forces should concern themselves
sleeplessly with how to rise up endlessly against the resurrected dictatorship
and its destructive forces.
It
must be clearly understood by all Nigerians and members of the international
community that most, if not all the political appointees under Buhari’s chained democratic government; both ministerial and non ministerial,
were appointed for the purpose of promoting and protecting tyrannical policies
and conducts of his administration. Apart from being beneficiaries of sectional lopsidedness and political
settlements, the appointees were strictly scrutinized and tutored by
the country’s secret police of Buhari’s armpit
purse in the art of
tyrannical policies and conducts. Most, if not all of them are also
beneficiaries of Nigeria’s political woes of the recent past. In the country’s
coercive establishments, blood thirsty senior officers and semi-cannibals were
carefully selected and appointed into the headship of the country’s strategic
security forces.
Totality
of these is agents
of tyranny or dictatorship. Other
agents of tyranny working or sympathetic to the dictatorial government of
Muhammadu Buhari can be found within the Nigerian Bar Association, the
Southwest based Civil Society Organizations, the print, electronic and online
media, mainly, if not mostly of Southwest section particularly those
established with illicit or stolen public funds and owned by political
profligates.
Our coordinating partner: Intersociety had severally argued expertly
and seminally that the
emergence ofdictatorship or tyranny and its sustenance under a civilian
administration, is not the sole activity of a dictator or tyrant; but a hatched
conspiratorial project involving other dictatorial or tyrannical elements. It
further observed that the first victims of dictatorship are the judiciary and
the legislature, leading to instant death of rule of law, separation of powers
and checks and balances.
According
to Intersociety,
where there are formidable and non conformist rights based CSOs and other
members of the “attentive public” (media, religious bodies, occupational and
professional bodies, etc); dictatorship meets its waterloo and irreparably
nailed to coffin.
That
is to say that the emergence of Buhari’s dictatorship in Nigeria has thrown up two forces of opposite
direction;which can best be described as forces of change and forces of chains or
forces of lightness and forces of darkness.The likes of AGF, Prof Sagay
and Senator Ndume; by their dictatorial utterances, clearly represent the
forces of darkness or deformity, while the upright CSOs and other democratic
forces represent forces of lightness or change or reformism. It is also a case
of thinkers versus
tinkerers or reformers versus deformers or progressives versus retrogressives.
Further
attestation to the existence of the two
forces of opposite direction under
the Buhari’s dictatorial presidency is the recent launch of online signature project spearheaded by a risen
constitutional lawyer and Georgetown University law scholar, Ms Carol Ajie; for
the purpose of compelling
President Muhammadu Buhari to obey court orders and other judicial
consequential pronouncements or resign or be impeached.
This
followed President Buhari’s blundered and incoherent maiden media chat of 30th December 2015. The online petition
signing, which has since exceeded its target; was met with a counter online
petition project, launched byBuhari’s laptop activists and funded by the Presidency. While
Counsel Carol Ajie’s online petition targets atprotecting and preserving
rule of law, constitutionalism and human rights in Nigeria; the Buhari Presidency’s
sponsored online petition targets at protecting
and preserving rule of lawlessness, un-constitutionalism and gross disrespect
of human rights and fundamental freedoms. In other words, the former represents agents of changewhile
the latter represents chain
agents. Counsel Carol
Ajie’s advocacy step is deeply commendable, exemplary and emulative.
It
further gladdens our heart to note the recent public position taken by the
national leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) against the Buhari’s
recent justification to his disobedience to court orders in Nigeria
particularly as it concerns the duo of Nnamdi Kanu and Sambo Dasuki. Its
insistence that court orders and judgments must be obeyed and enforced to the
letter in Nigeria by all authorities and persons; is a welcome development. In
Section 287 (1) (2) (3) of the 1999 Constitution, the decisions of the Supreme
Court, Court of Appeal, Federal High Courts, High Courts of State and FCT and
other subordinate courts, shall be obeyed and enforced in any part of Nigeria
by all authorities and persons including
President Muhammadu Buhari and his AGF.
It
is also extremely important to note that the
engine house of the national interest is executive obedience to court orders
and protection and preservation of the citizens’ constitutional liberties. Justification of executive
disobedience to court orders as a
protection of national interest is
abominable and impeachable. It is also a deliberate ploy to bend the law and
impeach the 1999 Constitution. Disobedience to court decisions is one of thedimensions
of corruption and a gross
abuse of office; contrary to Section 15 (5) of the 1999 Constitution. The AGF
utterances under reference are worse than his principal’s blundered and
incoherent media chat.
Protection of public interest can never be equated
with obvious presidential
threats to citizens’ sovereignty;enshrined and entrenched in Section 14
(2) (a) of the 1999 Constitution; to the effect that sovereignty belongs to the
people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all
its powers and authority. The
inflammable and defenseless utterances of the AGF are therefore not surprising;
which explains why English Language professors also hold that liars use passive voice while
truth tellers use active voice.
As
we speak, Citizen Nnamdi Kanu has been detained by the DSS, on direct orders of
President Buhari for a total of 83 days without substantive trial and bail
release. All the four consequential court orders; ordering his unconditional
release, among others, have been rapaciously flouted by President Buhari with
impunity. In the alleged offenses of criminal conspiracy, among others brought
against him by the DSS, he was unconstitutionally detained or held beyond
constitutional deadline before being put on aborted trial. None of the three
consequential orders granted by the Wuse Zone 2 Magistrate Court was obeyed and
he was never released on bail.
Even
when the Magistrate Court re-ordered for his unconditional release following
the abortion and discontinuation of his trial by the same DSS, he was never
released. Again when the Federal High Court took notice of its erroneous and
unconstitutional detention order granted to DSS and reversed itself and ordered
that Citizen Kanu should be released unconditionally; President Buhari called
and stopped the enforcement of the court order.
Till
date, Citizen Nnamdi Kanu is not under any court remand in Nigeria and is
presently held under President Buhari’s personal order. While Sections 293, 294
and 296 of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act of 2015 forbid any
authority or person other than Magistrate and High Court to detain any citizen
beyond 24hrs or 48hrs without court
remand for maximum of 28
days without trial; Section 35 (4) (a) of the 1999 Constitution further forbids
detention of any citizen accused of committing offense of capital punishment
(life jail or death sentence) for more than 60 days or two months without being
released on bail or appropriately charged to court.
Till
date, Citizen Nnamdi Kanu has been held incommunicado for a total of 83 days
without released on bail or unconditionally, not even for an hour. His last
arraignment and preferring of phantom charges of treasonable felony and four
lesser others on 23rd December
2015 was aborted following his refusal to take plea; citing Buhari’s
defenseless disobedience to other court orders. Till date, he is in custody under
no court remand with his case file seized and possibly being doctored by the
office of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court. These are grievous
violations of the provisions of the Chapter Four of the 1999 Constitution.
Following
the Intersociety’s mocked advice to President
Muhammadu Buhari to construct
two maximum security prisons in each of the country’s 774 Local Government
Areas; totaling 1,548 maximum security prisons and ensure that average of 5,000
Nigerians are arrested and detained monthly; we
wish to add that it
is about time the NBA shut and grounded court proceedings; by way of
country-wide court boycotts until President Muhammadu Buhari obeys all the
subsisting court orders and signs an undertaking not to disobey decisions of
the court in Nigeria anymore. That
is to say that condemnation of the Presidency of Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari by NBA
for flouting court decisions in Nigeria is not good enough. More proactive
steps such as country-wide court boycotts are urgently needed to put the dictatorial
policies and conducts of his Presidency to adequate checks.
It
is also about time the respected legal body disbarred and suspended indefinitely any
lawyer including any member of the
silk that supports the dictatorial policies and conducts of the Buhari
administration. It is abominable for NBA to fold its hands and watch the
sanctity and independence of the judiciary being presidentially soiled, tainted
and undermined with some of its errant members playing a leading role. If
decisions of courts are no longer subject to strict obedience and enforcement
at all times in any part of Nigeria; then NBA and the judiciary as well as
Nigeria’s constitutional democracy are irreparably doomed.
Finally,
we wish to joyfully and warmly congratulate the wife of Citizen Nnamdi Kanu;
Uchechi, Nnamdi-Kanu for her healthy and safe delivery of a baby boy. Unto the family of lion-hearted
men, another lion is born! This
is a major setback for the Presidency of Buhari and its dictatorial associates
which had last week sponsored wicked media falsehood and propaganda, saying
“Citizen Nnamdi Kanu was caught in a hotel hibernating with a young lady”. The
sole malicious intent was to cause death-in-pregnancy of Uchechi Kanu and his nine
months unborn child and
in-captivity divorce in
Citizen Nnamdi Kanu’s blessed marriage. To
God Be The Glory All The Time!!
Signed:
For: Coalition of Southeast Based Human Rights
Organizations (CSBHROs):
1.Emeka Umeagbalasi
(+23474090052
For: International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of
Law (Intersociety)
2. Comrade Aloysius Attah (+2348035090548)
For: Anambra State Branch of the Civil Liberties Organization
(CLO)
3. Comrade Peter Onyegiri (+2347036892777)
For: Center for Human Rights & Peace Advocacy (CHRPA)
4. Comrade Samuel Njoku (+2348039444628)
For: Human Rights Club (a project of LRRDC)(HRC)
5. Justus Uche Ijeoma, Esq.(+2348037114869)
For: Forum for Justice, Equity & Defense of Human Rights
(FJEDHR)
6. Comrade Chike Umeh ( +2348064869601)
For: Society Advocacy Watch Project (SPAW)
7. Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Esq. (+2348034186332)
For: Anambra Human Rights Forum (AHRF)
8. Comrade Alex Olisa(+2348034090410)
For: Southeast Good Governance Forum (SGGF)
9. Jerry Chukwuokolo, PhD (+2348035372962)
For: International Solidarity for Peace & Human Rights
Initiative (ITERSOLIDARITY)
10. Evlyn Chinwe
Eze, Esq. (+2347019646494)
For: Street Law Africa
(LawAfrica)
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