Those who think the Federal Government had a rethink about its defiance of court orders, and decided to release SaharaReporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, and a former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, need to think again.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), was quoted as saying: “The only reasons for the release of Omoyele Sowore and Sambo Dasuki revolved around our commitment to the rule of law, obedience to court orders and compassionate grounds.”
In other words, the Muhammadu Buhari administration had released the two men, not necessarily in obedience to court orders but as an act of compassion. In other words, the administration wants to be seen as a compassionate one.
In response to Malami, Sowore’s lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), asked Malami to apologise to Sowore and Dasuki for allegedly advising the Federal Government wrongly, which made the Federal Government to detain Dasuki for four years and Sowore for more than four months in violation of bail granted them by different courts.
Falana said: “It is submitted, without any fear of contradiction, that under the current human rights regime no authority has the power to detain any person beyond 48 hours in any part of Nigeria without a court order.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the government is not permitted to refuse to comply with the order of bail under the pretext of defending the security of the nation.”
The Federal Government had been commended in some quarters for releasing Sowore and Dasuki on Christmas Eve, but such commendations were undeserved in the light of Malami’s utterances about why they were released.
Suggesting that the Federal Government could disobey court orders, Malami was quoted as saying: “It is important to understand the fact that as far as the law is concerned and in relation to the Nigerian justice system, one has multiple options after a court has ruled on a matter; the right to appeal the said ruling, the right to ask the same court that issued an order to vary or review the terms of the order as well as the right to request for Stay of Execution of the order pending the hearing and determination of an appeal in that matter.”
It is clear that Malami’s argument doesn’t apply to Sowore and Dasuki as there was no Stay of Execution concerning the court orders that granted them bail. That is why there was intense public pressure on the Buhari administration to obey court orders. The truth is that the Federal Government had behaved lawlessly.
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