Buhari encouraging impunity, say NBA, SAN – TheNigerialawyer

The Nigerian Bar Association and a senior advocate of Nigeria on
Wednesday berated the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari
(retd.), for his comment on Tuesday that democracy was to slow for
his liking, Punch
report.^[1]

They said the President was encouraging impunity by such
statements.

Buhari at a ceremony where his aides and some members of staff
presented a card to him on his 77th birthday, compared the
anti-corruption war he prosecuted as a military head of state
between 1983 and 1985 with the current anti-graft war.

The retired major general, who recalled how he jailed some
politicians for graft within a short time, said democracy was too
slow.

Politicians jailed by Buhari as a head of state included the
late Governor of Ogun State, Olabisi Onabanjo; his counterpart in
the defunct Bendel State, the Ambrose Alli, and a former Anambra
State governor, Jim Nwobodo.

The NBA National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kunle Edun, in an
interview with The PUNCH, said statements like the ones by Buhari
encouraged the culture of disobedience to court orders.

The association said it was unfortunate that Buhari, in a modern
time, could still be fond of the memories of his actions as the
head of state during his military regime in the early 1980s when
“justice was turned upside down.”

It added that Buhari as a major beneficiary of the democratic
system and being the President of Nigeria, “should be espousing
democratic ethos and values where the will of the people should
always be respected”.

It said no country ever succeeded where “there is an official
policy of repression of the rule of law.”

Edun said on behalf of the NBA, “Military regimes are
aberrations in modern times. The institutions that represent the
will and expression of the people which are the legislature and the
judiciary are usually the first victims when a military coup
happens.

“No country has ever succeeded where there is an official policy
of repression of the rule of law.

“The President is a major beneficiary of the Nigerian democratic
system and being the President of Nigeria, he should be espousing
democratic ethos and values where the will of the people should
always be respected.

“A regime that glorifies the nation’s sad history of military
rule, encourages disobedience of court orders and subjects the rule
of law to the dictates of what the government may capriciously
consider as national security, is a drawback for modern democracy
and makes the country a mockery in the comity of nations.”

Also a lawyer and activist, Inibehe Effiong, said it did not
come as a surprise as the major general had always demonstrated his
aversion for democracy and the rule of law.

Buhari’s disposition spells doom for Nigeria’s democracy
– SAN

Also, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Norrison Quakers, said
Buhari’s disposition spelt trouble for Nigeria’s democracy.

He noted that the retired major general’s body language, rather
than the constitution, was what had been guiding the behaviour of
security agencies.

Quakers said, “We have a President who hasn’t learnt to submit
himself to the provisions of the constitution and the constitution
is being threatened because we have a President who is finding it
difficult to be directed by the book.

“I read the comment. If the aspiration and will of the people to
be democratic and embrace a civil administration, where rules and
regulations should be strictly adhered, become a problem for the
President, then we have a problem. It appears that the President
would rather have a martial law; rather than a civilian
administration that is structured.”