ALMOST THREE MONTHS INTO HIS PRESIDENTIAL TERM, Bola Tinubu has maintained the same pattern of flagrant contempt for the law and defiance of court decisions as his predecessor. The Department of State Services is leading the attack as usual, solidifying its reputation for impunity. In a recent case involving the illegal possession of a firearm against Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s suspended governor, Nicholas Oweibo, a judge of the Federal High Court in Lagos, strongly criticized the Federal Government for continuing to disobey court orders. Tinubu’s deteriorating democratic credentials will become irreparably soiled unless he acts immediately to rein in the officials and agencies breaking the law.
Oweibo voiced his annoyance with the government’s propensity to ignore court orders by disobeying them in response to their blatant disobedience, which he found to be outrageous.
When the judge dismissed Emefiele’s charge for lack of a diligent prosecution, he or she stated, “The prosecution has exhibited signs that they (the government) are not law-abiding and have no regard for the court. They cannot be made by the court. For the defendant who is in detention, what use will it be? Why might keeping the file on the court’s docket be advantageous? I think it’s right to let them drop the accusation. Simply abandoning it won’t prevent the court from dismissing it for lack of persistent pursuit. The request to resign is approved in this manner.
Tinubu, who was actively involved in the fight for Nigeria’s democracy, regularly enjoys referring to himself as a devoted democrat; yet, democracy is based on, and preserved in practice by subordination to, the rule of law.”The rule of law, safeguarded by an independent judiciary, ensures that civil and political rights and civil liberties are safe and that the equality and dignity of all citizens are not at jeopardy,” according to the United Nations.
Tinubu needs to make a clear break with the impunity of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, whose DSS was their major weapon in the fight for civil rights and court decisions. An unsettling lack of disgust or apathy for that agency’s routine disrespect for the law is suggested by Tinubu’s joyful retention of its leadership when he fired the military, customs, and police heads he inherited.
Moving forward, he must make sure that the law is strictly followed and enhance statutory institutions to ensure their independence.
An NGO called the World Justice Project defines the rule of law as “a lasting system of laws, institutions, norms, and community commitment which promotes accountability, just law, open government, and accessible and impartial justice.”
The Nigerian government, its agencies, and agents often disobey the courts in addition to making arbitrary arrests and detentions, attacking the media, and violating the right to peaceful assembly. However, disobedience to court orders erodes both democracy and the rule of law. “The greatest prescription for disaster in every democratic country is disobedience of court orders,” stated a study report issued under the aegis of the Kenya Law School. It prepares the ground for later self-help usage.
But a lot of Nigerian officials don’t seem to mind. Despite being granted bail by the Court of Appeal in 2022, Nnamdi Kanu, the head of the separatist Indigenous Peoples of Biafra movement, has remained in DSS custody. In spite of a Kaduna High Court ruling requiring their discharge and release for medical travel, Ibrahim el-Zakzaky, the head of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, and his wife Zeenah have been denied access to their confiscated passports since July 2021.
The police and the state government in Ilorin, Kwara State, have banded together against traditionalists who are trying to exercise their rights. Three of the victims are fighting for their freedom in court. The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who is currently on suspension, has been held by the DSS for about three months now without being brought to trial. Sani Abacha’s $5 billion in looted assets, which the previous administrations eventually recovered, were managed in full detail, according to an FHC, Abuja judgement that Tinubu must publish. However, Tinubu has so far disregarded the ruling.
Tinubu has to restructure the DSS and other security organizations immediately. It is his solemn duty, together with that of Lateef Fagbemi, the next Attorney-General of the Federation, to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy, establish the rule of law, and guarantee judicial orders are respected.
