- Alleges Buhari of detesting criticisms
- Wants President to withdraw disobedience of Court order
A human rights group under the aegis of Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) has lent its voice to the ongoing critics of President Muhammadu Buhari recent utterances during his maiden Presidential Media Chat on flagrant disobedience to Court order as well as recent Military panel set up by the Nigeria Army to investigate the conduct of its personnel in some states of the Federation targeting at upturning the sealed election of Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State.
The rights group through its five pages Open Letter to President Buhari which also forwarded to America President, Mr. Barrack Obama, Secretary- General of the United Nation Mr. Banki Moon, (UN), Chairperson, African Union (AU) , Chairperson, European Union(EU) and leadership of the Nigeria National Assembly, alleged President Buhari of detesting criticisms against the bad policies of his administration which shown Buhari as unrepentant tyranny leader.
According to the Open Letter dated Thursday 7th,2016 and signed by the CHRSJ’s Executive Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman and the copy was made available to newsmen in Lagos on Thursday, he urged President Buhari to instruct the authority of Nigeria Army to disband illegal and unconstitutional Military Panel set with the sole aim of upturning the electoral wishes of the people of Ekiti State that gave their mandates to Governor Fayose during June 21, 2014 governorship election.
Comrade Sulaiman maintained that it was undemocratic, immoral, ungodly and anti-people to set up any illegal panel after the apex Court in the land, the Supreme Court of Nigeria had adjudicated on any matter, advising President Buhari to respect the rule of law and shun the any act that capable of truncating the current hard earned democratic experiment by allowing the ethos and ethics of democracy be the watchword of present administration in Nigeria.
He said “We want you to also know that the era of subverting the wishes of the people under the pretence of sanitizing the system is over and Military should be cautioned not to interfere in our democratic system as constitutional role given to the Military is to protect the country from internal and external aggression and not to sack the democratically elected government put in place by the peoples’ votes.
“Nigeria Military should also be extremely careful, not to do anything (like illegal ongoing Military panel on governorship election), which capable of truncating the nation’s democratic experiment by allowing the ethos of democracy that is equity, fairness, justice and egalitarian society, to be their watchword. Nigerians know that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the only body constitutionally charged with the responsibility of conducting the State and National elections in the land, not Military which has no constitutional role to play in the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
“It is very clear that the said Military panel on the governorship elections was ill-conceived, anti-people, unconstitutional, provoking, and wastage of human and material resources which it cannot stand the test of time, than introducing illegal way to clampdown on perceived political opponents, particularly, Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Peter Ayodele Fayose who has been vocal critic of your government actions and policies since assumption of office in May 29th,2015”.
Speaking further on the public declaration of Buhari not to obey the Court order, CHRSJ boss declared that Mr. President has shown his high level of undemocratic characters as unrepentant despotic Military ruler, who has no regard for tenets of democracy by saying openly that his(Buhari) government would not respect the Court order on the Director of Radio Biafra, Comrade Nnamdi kanu with genuine self –determination struggle and Former National Security Adviser(NSA), Col. Sambo Dansuki(rtd) and host of others who were facing alleged corrupt charges on $2.1 arms deals.
The Open Letter added: “We will like to use this medium to bring to your notice the section36 (5) of the amended 1999 Constitution that ‘Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty’. The flagrant disobedience to Court order will not help the growth of our current democracy but just returning the country back to the dark days of military era where Mr. President garnered all his experiences in life.
“It is better to make it abundantly clear that nobody is supporting in any form of corruption in the country but no nation in the world can win war against corruption on the pages of newspapers and the fight should be total not the current selective against perceived political opponents by your administration. The fight against the menace should be with human face as stipulated by the Nigeria Constitution which is the foundation upon the civilized and democratic Nigeria rests upon”.
Sulaiman therefore called on the President Buhari to withdraw all his administration undemocratic tendencies, particularly, disobedience to Court order through a signed personal public statement within the reasonable time by allowing the fairness and justice to be the focus of present administration as part of the effort to deepen the current democratic experiment in Nigeria.
The group then supported their position on the subject matter with the position of late eminent jurist, JUSTICE KAYODE ESO, J.S.C.N. (as he then was) that the Fundamental Human Right “is a right which stands above ordinary Law of the land and which in fact is antecedent to the political society itself……It is a primary condition to a civilized society.”
