Atiku, Kwankwaso, Obi, Tinubu make vague promises on rule of law

Because of Nigeria’s long history of human rights violations and ineffective administration of justice, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), in January, invited presidential candidates to a national dialogue.

The president of the NBA, Yakubu Maikyau, said that the essence of the dialogue, which focuses on the administration of justice among others, is to request from the presidential candidates a plan to overcome the various challenges that disturb the system, with the aim of arresting whoever becomes president. responsible for the promises.

Some of the 18 presidential candidates standing in Saturday’s election attended and spoke at the event.

But none of the four presidential defaulters – Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of the Labor Party (LP), Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Rabi’u Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) – attended the event.

Mr. Tinubu delegated Hassan Liman, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a member of the APC presidential campaign council, to the dialogue.

The issue chosen by the NBA for deliberation is the pivot on which the rule of law and other democratic ethos rest. Without an efficient judicial administration system, the rule of law and human rights falter and democracy begins to crumble.

The scant attention paid to front-line presidential candidates’ issues may not be a measure of the issue’s importance, but the manifesto, which is a campaign perk, offers hope.

The review of the manifesto offers little assurance that the deterioration of the rule of law and human rights under the watch of outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari will be further addressed when he takes over.

On Mr. Buhari’s watch, this violation of democratic ethos was a constant feature until the last day. Mr. Buhari just last week made a broadcast trampling on an order from the Supreme Court delaying the enforcement of a deadline to end the use of some old currency notes.

These actions, a direct attack on the rule of law, have inspired many human rights violations for many Nigerians who have lost their lives, businesses, properties and peaceful lives due to the impact of the new policy.

This is the latest in a series of human rights abuses and disregard for court orders that have been overseen by President Buhari’s regime for the past seven and a half years.

The regime has, for years, ignored a series of court orders to release the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, who was arrested by the State Security Service (SSS), in 2015. The Nigerian government simply bowed to the pressure. to release Mr. Dasuki in December 2019.

In another case, the Federal High Court declared the arrest of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim Elzakzaky, and his wife, Zeinat, illegal. In 2015, the Nigerian Army destroyed the couple’s house in Zaria, killing many of their followers, after they had an altercation with the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai.

But the government did not comply with the order until 2021 when the Kaduna State High Court dismissed the charges brought against Elzakzaky.

His prolonged detention in defiance of court orders sparked protests by Shiites, followers of Elzakzaky, across Nigeria.

In addition, the government arrested and detained a pro-democracy activist, Omoyele Sowore, in defiance of court orders.

In a bid to re-arrest Mr. Sowore after he was granted bail in December 2019, armed SSS agents breached the sanctity of the Federal High Court in Abuja, while the judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, was sitting. The situation led to pandemonium.

In what many in Nigeria and the world described as the worst human rights abuses under Mr. Buhari’s watch, armed military personnel stormed protest grounds in Lagos on October 20, 2020, shooting unarmed protesters.

Nigerian youths gathered at the Lekki expressway in Lagos as part of a nationwide protest against police brutality. But the soldiers moved to remove the protesters and in the process killed several people, an independent panel of inquiry organized by the government of Lagos State found, despite the denial of the federal government of any murder on the scene.

What is the promise of the presidential candidate

Interestingly, the manifestos of the four leading presidential candidates do not promise how to maintain the rule of law and the human rights of citizens.

For example, the manifesto of the presidential candidate of the APC, Mr. Tinubu, is not categorical on the issue, the same way they only skirted the issue when the campaign stopped.

In his manifesto, Mr. Tinubu simply promised, “We will ensure that the legal framework of our country is suitable for the type of society we want to build – a society that is just and gives all Nigerians the right to do so.”

The document promises, “A Tinubu government will operate on the premise that the rule of law is paramount,” without giving insight into what he will do differently.

To make matters worse, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party only mentioned the promotion of “rule of law” in his manifesto.

In the same vein, the Labor Party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Obi, promised to “reorganize politics through effective legal and institutional reforms to enforce the rule of law.” There is no mention of the protection of human rights in the manifesto.

---

Also read: EDITORIAL: Buhari, Emefiele and the attack on the rule of law

---

Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP spoke about “… upholding the principle that all are equal before the law, and combining the rule of law with the rule of virtue.” Mr. Kwankwaso like his fellow contestants is not clearly committed to promoting the rule of law and safeguarding the human rights of every Nigerian.

With a manifesto that is clearly lacking in terms of the rule of law and the protection of human rights, members of civil society organizations, citizens and journalists must continue to demand accountability from whoever becomes president on May 29.

Nigeria’s human rights record is uninspiring

Over the years, Nigeria has fared poorly in all human rights indicators amid hopes offered by those who want to take over power when President Buhari leaves office on May 29.

A New Zealand-based organization, the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI), which measures the human rights performance of countries, rated Nigeria “very poor” in its 2022 report.

The report said, “Compared to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria is worse than average.”

The global human rights body, Amnesty International, has given Nigeria a low rating in terms of human rights evaluation. In September 2021, he condemned “the efforts of the Nigerian security forces to fight the militants of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have resulted in arrests, detentions, forced disappearances and extrajudicial executions in the South-East and Niger Delta regions of Nigeria.”

Nigeria has had thirty years of arbitrary military rule that has seen violent violations of citizens’ rights with the jailing and killing of pro-democracy activists as well as flagrant disobedience to court decisions.

Nigerians hope that when we return from the democratic government in 1999, there will be a people oriented government.

To the dismay of many Nigerians, President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration ordered military operations that killed civilians in Zaki-Biam communities in Benue State as well as Odi in Bayelsa State. He ignored the court’s decision. Mr. Obasanjo’s successors – the late Umaru Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari followed a ignoble path.

Whoever wins Nigeria’s presidency on Saturday will contend with a growing agitation among Nigerians who want good governance.

Due to the failure of successive governments to meet many of the aspirations of citizens for a better life, there is a great possibility that Nigerians, especially the youth, can find new reasons to take to the streets to demand responsibility and a better deal as an economic reality. bite harder.