Author: The Nation

Mr Kunle Adegoke is one of the 73 lawyers elevated to the rank of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), by the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) on November 13, 2020. In this interview with journalists in Lagos, the former governorship aspirant in Osun State shares his thoughts on the alleged plot to whittle down the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s powers, implications of government’s disobedience of court orders, the military’s human rights record, among others. ROBERT EGBE was there.

 

MINISTER of Justice and alleged plot to whittle down EFCC powers

The issue of the EFCC is, I would say, a double-edged sword, in the sense that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was supposed to be a watchdog over our corruption cases. There was a time when the fear of the EFCC was the beginning of wisdom. Public officers were afraid to commit certain atrocities. Private officials were also afraid to break the law within their domains, believing that someone could write a petition against them to the EFCC. But, just as laudable institutions have the tendency to be abused, such unsavoury tendencies set in with respect to the EFCC. We came across cases where many individuals started misbehaving using state power to not only witch-hunt, but also to extort. Simple civil cases were being abused for ulterior motives….

The approach by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami SAN (over the alleged plot to whittle down EFCC powers) has attracted a lot of criticism. I think somehow, the stick is being bent too far with respect to (former EFCC Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu). That is why assets tracing regulations being implemented by Malami, has come under attack, because it is arrogating too many powers to the Attorney-General.…If we continue that way, I think it would be encouraging one impunity as replacement for another. That cannot be the best way to go. The Minister of Justice has enough challenges for him to confront, if he wants to do his job. He’s my very good friend, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t say the truth….The Minister’s powers are very huge…If he feels that there are some things that are not being properly done by the EFCC, in terms of maybe cases that were supposed to be prosecuted, let him bring those cases, let him file, institute those cases. If he feels there are cases they (EFCC) are doing and compromising, let him take over those cases. Any case that the minister feels the EFCC is using to witch-hunt or victimise people, let him terminate, discontinue those cases. He has those powers in the Constitution….I’d implore the sponsors of the bill (that seeks to arrogate more powers to the Minister of Justice over the EFCC) to look critically at what will endure and not an individual.

Buhari administration and disobedience of court orders

Where court orders are not obeyed by the executive, such executive is not setting a good precedent for the nation’s progress, but tyranny and destruction of the system. If there’s a government that should not disobey court orders, it should be the government of Muhammadu Buhari. This is a president that suffered a lot in the process of judicial determination of issues. On about three or four occasions, he was in court to contest his losses at the presidential polls. He could see how long it took for those cases to be decided and how sad he felt anytime he lost. To that extent, I expect that someone who has passed through such process would place much premium on respecting orders of court. The president ought to be the one that should champion obedience of court orders. When court orders are obeyed by either the president or a governor, a good example is being set for the citizens. The citizens will behave the same way the executive behaves and that is why we have so many people around who believe they are more powerful than the court. The implication of all these actions is that the rule of law is being destroyed and replaced with the rule of man. The consequence of all these is chaos and anarchy.

Nigerian military, human rights abuses, International Criminal Court (ICC), and fight against insurgency

There have been so many allegations of infractions against the Nigerian military. The question to be asked is; are these allegations true or not? Did they really happen or not? If they actually happened, somebody must answer questions on those infractions. The military hierarchy cannot just say because they are fighting a battle in Nigeria, they cannot be called to question. That is not right. It’s another sense of impunity and lack of respect for the law. If they are to abide by the law, they cannot say the plan by the ICC to probe them for human rights abuses is a distraction to their fight against insurgency. How far has the Nigerian military won the said fight against the insurgents? Substantial part of the country is currently being controlled by bandits, kidnappers and insurgents. The implication is that the military is failing even in that regard. But, when it comes to brutalisation of citizens, the soldiers are very active. If local authorities cannot call the military to order on their excesses, there are international organs that would do so. People have lost confidence in local authorities and that is what is responsible for resort to ICC for its intervention. So, it is very wrong for the Nigerian military to say that any intervention from the ICC is a distraction.

Needed amendments to 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act

Federal character and quota system. These are things that we ought not to retain in the Constitution and I will tell you why. The idea of the federal character, quota system, can be traced back to the 60s when there were concerns that a particular section of the country was educationally disadvantaged. This policy confers certain advantages on northerners and puts other region at a disadvantage. Such a provision ought to be regarded as affirmative action to bridge the gap. It should not be a permanent thing that would continue for ever. We are already turning it into a permanent feature within the Nigerian Constitution and this is very wrong. Besides, when you look at the legislative competences of the various levels of government, you will discover that what we have as legislative list in Nigeria is centralised structure, a unitary structure that is masquerading as a federal structure. What the Nigerian Constitution described as federalism is not a federalism, where about 68 legislative items are on the exclusive list. Some of these 68 items are even broken into three or four. We have so much power concentrated on the centre. We now have 28 items on the concurrent legislative list. These 28 items are now also shared between the Federal and state governments. The implication of this is that where the Federal Government has made a law that has covered the field, any law made by the states would be said to be inconsistent with the laws of the Federal Government. That means the states have no power to make any law in that regard again. How then would the states be developed? These are part of the things that the legislators need to look at. When you look at the Electoral Act, we need to make proof of electoral allegations simpler. The current electoral system is designed in favour of the winner. Nobody can file an electoral petition based on the present arrangement and succeed. That is why smart lawyers don’t represent petitioners anymore; they represent the respondent, who is the winner in the election because he has nothing to prove. Yes, there is timeline for the hearing of election petition but this is not enough. It’s a question of how far have we helped the victim of election fraud to prove his case.

How the judiciary fared in 2020

It has been a very challenging year with its peculiarities. In any case, all institutions have their own challenges and of course, the challenges confronting the judiciary are still there. They have not left and I don’t think they are ready to leave soon, except with concerted efforts of all stakeholders. Fundamentally, there are areas that I believe the judiciary should look into, particularly on the issue of equipment, equipping the judiciary to be able to face the challenges. On this, I want to talk on COVID-19 and the challenges it posed to the judiciary. Nobody anticipated it and now it has become very apparent that we must be ready to deploy technology much more than before. The issue at some point was whether it was even proper for a court to deliver judgement virtually unlike the physical approach that we are all used to. It came to a point that it was practically impossible for any court in the land to even sit and everything was suspended. There is infrastructure that must be provided which the government must be ready to deploy immediately. Tied to that is the need to assist the judiciary to achieve its independence. This independence requires that the Judiciary should not go cap in hand to the Executive for funds. Judiciary can only be independent when it is not begging for survival from other arms of government. There are some areas where the judiciary has not fared better when it comes to dispensation of justice. You discover that it takes so long for some cases to be decided. Those on the Bench and other stakeholders like lawyers and litigants could be responsible for this. Some judges are not regularly sitting as they should do. It is important that lawyers should help the judiciary. There are lawyers who deliberately waste the court’s time by filing frivolous applications.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Branch has held its Annual Human Rights Summit. The virtual event was themed ‘Human Rights in the Epicentre of Nigeria’s Post-COVID Recovery’, ADEBISI ONANUGA reports.

 

IN line with tradition, The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Branch, has held its annual  human rights summit.The theme was: “Human Rights in the Epicentre of Nigeria’s Post-COVID Recovery”.

Though the event held virtually, participants included many senior lawyers, several legal practitioners and rights activists and other stakeholders and was moderated by Vice-Chairman, NBA Lagos/Chair, Human Rights Committee, Okey Ilofulunwa. The panelists included the Senior Human Rights’ Adviser to the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Senior Human Rights Adviser to the UN/RC and UNCT, Martin Ejidike, National Coordinator of Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), Chino Obiagwu, SAN and Zonal Head of Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, South-West Zone, Mrs. Latifat Salau.

Ejidike said that the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant human rights dimensions globally. It has affected many groups disproportionately including women, children, persons with disabilities, IDPs, refugees, migrants, persons living within prisons and other closed settings. It has also impacted on the realisation of SDGs and threatens progress made in realising global goals at the onset of the Decade of Action.

Ejidike said the main point of departure is that COVID-19 has demonstrated that human rights violations harm all of us. He said when the rights of one person is violated it affects all of us.

According to him, the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups including frontline workers, older persons, persons with disabilities, women and girls, indigenous people and minorities.

He said three trends were noticeable in Nigeria. “First, excessive use of force by security agents to enforce the lockdown regulations; secondly, state executives overreached their constitutional powers to advance their objectives unrelated to disease control and thirdly, there was the use also, of legal and regulatory tools to legitimise restrictions on civil rights.”

The pandemic has thrown light on and exacerbated inequalities in societies, undermining development gains, public trust and confidence in institutions, as well as overall progress towards the achievement of the SDGs.

He said there is a need to aggressively pursue the implementation of the Correctional Service Act (2019) especially aspects relating to non-custodial sentences while establishing far-reaching and binding guidelines on prison decongestion. This is also time to establish clear guidance for criminal justice actors on how to apply the ACJA (2015) and other relevant procedural laws with a view to avoiding overcrowding, build additional custodial centres, educate prisoners and custodial staff about the risks of COVID-19 and how to protect themselves, provide PPE and train prison health personnel on infectious disease control and the handling of suspect cases of COVID-19.

Edijike regretted the kneejerk response by authorities to reported escalation of cases of rape and sexual violence during the pandemic. He noted that several states initiated discussions to review laws on rape to impose more severe penalties and that Kaduna State amended its laws imposing penalties that violated international human rights law and national laws.

“In that case, an amendment of the State Penal Code prescribed surgical castration and bilateral salpingectomy (i.e removal of the ovary) for rape. According to the amended penal code, the penalty for the rape of a child under 14 years is surgical castration for men and removal of ovary for women followed by death. Where the victim is over 14 years the law prescribes surgical castration or removal of ovary followed by life imprisonment. Prior to this amendment, the punishment stipulated for the offence was 21 year’s imprisonment for the rape of an adult and life imprisonment in the case of a child. These penalties violated international human rights law and Nigeria’s obligations under the ICCPR. They are also in violation of the Anti-Torture Act.

“Firstly, surgical castration or bilateral salpingectomy as punishment constitutes torture under international and Nigerian law.”

He said Nigeria cannot enact laws imposing torture as a penalty for a crime. The prohibition of torture is a jus cogens principle of customary international law with universal application. Torture is also specifically prohibited by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Nigeria is a State Party to both treaties.

He said in addition to the universal prohibition of torture under customary law, mutilation and castration are listed under the Anti-Torture Act as constituting torture.

Ejidike said the imposition of death sentence for rape in the context, is a violation of international human rights law. Paragraph 2 of article 6 of ICCPR strictly limits the application of the death penalty to the most serious crimes. Sexual offences like rape do not reach that threshold and should not attract the death penalty.

“An effective response to the pandemic must be based on human rights. People and their rights must be front and centre of response and recovery. As noted by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the medical vaccines that are being developed will hopefully deliver us from COVID-19, but they will not prevent or cure the economic ravages that have resulted from the pandemic and aided its spread. Human rights is a vaccine to hunger, poverty, inequality and many other ills that face society”, he said.

Obiagwu, SAN, said that the Nigerian government has a responsibility to put human rights at the forefront of development, because the Constitution has provided in section 14(2)b that the security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government. In other words, if the government does not pay attention to the welfare of the people, then the whole social contract of governance is completely eroded.

Obiagwu agreed on the need to improve security in this Country, because security of lives and property is the most vital aspect of human rights; it is only when you are alive that you can talk about human rights.

“Beyond that is also the issue of welfare; welfare means livelihood and the welfare of the Nigerian people is captured in Chapter 2 of the Consitution which unfortunately is said to be non-justiciable. But we have demonstrated through many case laws that Chapter 2 of the Constitution is justiciable; they are so many Court decisions, the most recent being the case of LEDAP v Ministry of Education where the Federal High Court Justice Tsoho J. held that the right to primary and basic education are constitutional rights simply because, even though it is provided in section 18 of the Constitution (i.e under Chapter 2), the mere fact that the National Assembly has enacted the Universal Basic Education Act has elevated that provision of section 18 to the status of an enforceable fundamental right. In other words, once a legislation makes a law to statutorily recognise a provision in Chapter 2 of the Constitution, that particular provision gains the status of an enforceable right under Chapter 4 of the Constitution and that has been the position of the law even as far back as Attorney-General of Ondo State v. Attorney-General of the Federation. A similar decision has also been reached in the case SERAP v. Nigeria at the ECOWAS Court where the right to education was declared to be a fundamental right. The same argument can be extended to right to health because the Nigerian legislature has also passed the Nigerian Health Act. In other words, the right to primary, secondary and tertiary health services of all Nigerians is a fundamental right.

He said it would not be proper to talk about recovery from COVID-19 without looking at those rights that are livelihood ranked stressing “these rights are central to the lives and welfare of Nigerian people. Unfortunately, Nigeria continues to go down the poverty index. As a matter of fact, by last year. Nearly 70 percent of Nigerians are said to live in extreme poverty and up to 80 percent  live in poverty (i.e living under 1$ in a day).”

He said with the continued depreciation of Nigeria and the rising inflation, it is expected that at the turn of 2021, more Nigerians would have slipped into extreme poverty line.

He urged government to take robust steps to ensure that policies that address issues of livelihood are put in place, and that is where the Nigerian Bar Association comes in; the Nigerian Bar Association is perhaps the largest professional body one can think of in this country and with a very robust credibility and integrity and leverage in the area of policymaking.

“We should pay attention to provisions of Chapter 2 of the Constitution that clearly states what government needs to do in terms of policy implementation and development practices in ensuring that the welfare of the people take the front-seat in the scheme of things, especially in the areas of security, education; primary and secondary education should be well-funded.

Obiagwu regretted that the Federal Government has not responded effectively to some of the demands of the Nigerian people.

“After the COVID-19, we saw the #EndSARS protests which demonstrated the disenchantment of the Nigerian people, especially the young ones, at the continued impunity in this country.

“Over the years, Nigerian citizens have groaned under the pains of police brutality and human rights organisations and stakeholders have called for drastic reforms of the Police but that has not been done.

“What the Nigerian legislature has done is to pass a new Nigerian Police Act, a new Act purported to reform the Nigerian Police but that is not the case because it is still the same force without external oversight. “

“The #EndSARS protests also reveals the complete neglect of young people in the scheme of things and we must begin to demand that the political space is opened for young people to participate in development”, he added.

Mrs Salau said now is the time to uphold human rights of the citizens so that we can as quickly as possible get out of the pandemic. Salau emphasised that this is certainly not the time to neglect human rights if we must recover from the pandemic soon.

According to her, the pandemic has dealt a severe blow on all facets of our life ranging from health to finance. Human rights are universal and interdependent, so nobody must be left behind in ensuring a total recovery from the pandemic.

“The right to life is a fundamental human right that must be upheld at all times and is non-derogable. Adopting a human rights-based approach is not only the right thing to do, it is critical for the success of the global COVID-19 response. The pandemic has exposed human rights to series of abuses, there is urgent need to look for long-term recovery that leaves no one behind.

According to Mrs Salau: “There is no denying that the rights of the Nigerian citizens have been thoroughly abused during this COVID-19 especially while trying to enforce the lockdown order. Also, the lockdown exposed a lot people to hunger, lack of access to basic medical care, lack of access to schools as all basic utilities were shut down. The COVID-19 pandemic has produced a health and economic crises of unexpected scope and as we try to find solution to the crises, human rights remain very important.”

She lamented that there has been serious violation of human rights with insecurity as 2020 has been of unprecedented challenges and has underscored the need for renewed action to promote and protect human rights.

She noted that the pandemic has set us all aback on human rights gains and it has taken away millions of jobs putting a lot of strain on families while gender-based violence has also sky-rocketed, the right to education seriously threatened and so there is a need to build back by putting human rights at the heart of recovery efforts.

She advised: “The government needs to wake up and do a lot in ensuring that the human rights of Nigerian citizens are fully protected. We need to tackle discrimination, address inequalities and encourage participation. The pandemic has equally shown us how fragile our world is. To begin to recover fully, we must begin to close the gaps of discrimination and inequality.

“The insecurity in the land is palpable and we have to work together. Let us stand up for human rights to build back a more equal and sustainable society that advances the rights and freedom of all”, she added.

In his goodwill message, NBA President Akpata remarked that the 2020 theme globally is “Recover Better – Stand Up for Human Rights”. He said the theme is instructive in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic which ravaged the world this year and inadvertently centered the preservation of human rights at the core of the loudest and most far-reaching agitations experienced.

Akpata said the incidences following the outbreak of Covid-19 in China and its eventual escalation to a global pandemic is riddled with reports of human rights abuses by governments, law enforcement agents, religious bodies and citizens all responding differently to the spread of the virus.

According to him, “cases of suppression of information and deprivation of freedom of speech and expression are reported against international governments in the wake of the virus outbreak; nationwide protests were met with human rights abuses, clampdown on mass media and attempts to regulate social media.

“These government-imposed sanctions continue to stifle the people’s rights to freedom of speech and expression, peaceful assembly and in extreme cases liberty and life.

“The lockdown orders imposed to curb the spread of the virus allowed an introspection that created a sense of self-awareness, national consciousness and youth patriotism which stirred a global agitation for a posturing of human rights at the center of our humanity, hence the unprecedented spate of protests experienced around the world, like #BlackLivesMatter and #EndSars which tackled police brutality and disregard for human lives by security operatives.”

The NBA President contended that the responsibility to protect the human rights of citizens rests first with the government, however, we continue to see public authorities and government officials support policies that violate basic human rights while exploiting religious and ethnic sentiments to polarize and oppress citizens.

He lamented that there is little progress on accountability for abuse by security forces even with the hearings at the various Judicial Panels of Inquiry and Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses.

“The question of why reports from previous investigative panels set up to check law enforcement abuses were never made public continue to be ignored.

“The NBA, in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission, will continue to work tirelessly to institutionalize representation for victims of human rights abuses around the country. Until our society is built to protect the human rights of everyone irrespective of tribe, religion”, he said.

Earlier, chairman of the NBA, Lagos Branch, Akangbe said the summit has become important given the fact that issues of violation of human and people’s rights are at an all-time high in our country. He said lawyers are meant to be the voice of the voiceless and we need to always at every point in time come together and discuss this.

Robert Egbe

 

OVER 2000 shop owners and traders at the demolished Oyinlola Olorunda Market, FESTAC Town have asked the Ikeja High Court in Lagos to stop government officials from further trespass on the property.

They prayed the court for an interlocutory injunction restraining Amuwo Odofin Local Government Council and the Lagos State Government from from, among others, “entering, surveying, evacuating, digging up, laying any foundation, constructing or redeveloping all the the parcel of lands of the claimants” at the market, pending the determination of the suit.

The suit, marked, ID/9827/LMW/2020, was filed by five claimants: Mr A. Akinnikawe; Abebi Shogbesan; Tijani Adisa (for themselves and on behalf of allottees/owners of the market); Amalgamated Trading Co. Ltd and Mrs Stella Taiwo Cookey (Iyaloja of Olorunda Oyinlola Market).

Amuwo Odofin Local Government Council, the Federal Housing Authority, and the Lagos State Government are the three defendants/respondents.

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The claimants/applicants made the prayer in a December 29 motion on notice filed through their team of counsel, including Chief Ike Onyefulu, and Adesina Ogunlana.

They supported their prayer with a 27-page affidavit in support of the motion, deposed to by Akinnikawe, an owner of one of the “over 2000 shops”.

They averred that buildings, including shops, belonging to traders in the market, were demolished by officials of the Amuwo-Odofin Local Government protected by armed policemen on December 12, without prior notice to the market leaders and traders.

According to them, no fewer than 5,000 traders were affected.

No date has been fixed for hearing of the motion.

The traders protested in front of the Ikeja High Court on Monday before their lawyers filed the application.

John Austin Unachukwu

 

THE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Makurdi branch has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency on the security situation in the country

Branch Chairman, Justin Gbagir stated this at a valedictory court session in honour of  a member of the branch, Mr.  Moses Ishimayam Udam, who was murdered by gunmen on the December 15, 2020 alongside his  seven  months pregnant wife, Mrs. Nkechinyere Udam.

The youngest sister of the deceased was grievously wounded and is currently on admission in the hospital. The gunmen also vandalised their house and made away with cars and other  valuables including laptops, handsets, and others. The gunmen allegedly carried out the operation between 30 minutes and one hour without any intervention by security agents.

Gbagir  noted that security and welfare of people is the primary purpose of government and failure to protect the citizens by government renders the government a “failed government”.

The lawyer decried the insecurity bedeviling the country and observed that such situations questions the social contract between the government and the citizens.

He said, “It is worthy of note that the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Section 14 (2) (b) clearly provides that: “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government’. Government is constitutionally mandated to guarantee the security of the citizenry. This implies that if government fails to perform this constitutional obligation with utmost dedication, it will inevitably become a failed government. Nigerians have been experiencing multifarious threats to peace.

“ Incessant violent attacks and crimes have dimmed the prospects of attaining national cohesion, socio-economic prosperity, and democratic consolidation. Terrorism by Boko Haram in the North East, Armed Bandit in the North West and the Marauding Fulani Herdsmen in the North Central, and the sprouting up of ethnic militias across the six geo-political zones have quashed all hope that every Nigerian can experience freedom from fear of violent attacks.

“The state of insecurity in Nigeria and the inaction of the Federal Government that controls all the security commands to deal with the situation questions the essence of social contract between the citizenry and government, which is predicated on the centrality of security to human flourishing and happiness. Under the social contract, citizenries willingly abdicate their rights of self-protection to government, thereby, authorising it to enjoy monopoly of force. The social contract envisages that government will evolve veritable mechanisms to prevent, abate, and resolve violent external or internal conflicts perpetuated by state or non-state actors.”

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Gbagir  kicked against the call for citizens to owe guns for self-defence. According to him, abundance of guns makes it easier for people to kill others. “Even legally owned weapons can lead to tragic deaths, they can be stolen and end up in the hands of criminals. Guns in families all too often end up being accidentally and lethally used by children. Advocating for private individuals to owe guns to defend themselves is a clear message that there is no need for government whose primary responsibility is to protect the citizens. It also negates the amnesty programme of the current administration of Governor Samuel Ortom in his first term when he granted amnesty and collected several arms and ammunition from private citizens.” he said

He conceded that true security does not necessarily mean the nonexistence of threats or vulnerability to harm. Rather, he said, it “refers to the presence of a functional mechanism, and pool of expertise to deftly and promptly respond to threat, public danger and uncertainty.”

Therefore, he called for the revamp of the national security architecture to deal with threat promptly, objectively, and expertly. He also called for declaration of state of emergency on security in Nigeria

”It is on this note that I seize this opportunity to once again call on President Buhari to declare a state of emergency in the security sector in Nigeria in order to adequately address the degenerating security situation in the country, sack the current service chiefs and others appointed in their place to inject fresh blood and ideas in the security architecture of our country, declare the armed Fulani Herdsmen a Terrorist Group and treat them as such in order to adequately tackle them as a threat to the security of this nation, recruit more security personnel and empower our security institutions with modern and sophisticated gadgets to combat the rising wave of crime in our society.”

Furthermore, the NBA Branch Chairman expressed dismay on disobedience to orders of courts by the Executive. He said the Court has not only been viewed as the last hope of the commoners, but could aptly be described as a strong shelter in times of oppression or repression. So, for the Court to appropriately discharge its constitutional functions, the orders made by the Court must be promptly and appropriately complied with, such that the beneficiaries enjoy the fruit of their hard won victory.

“Unfortunately My Lords, disobedience of Court Orders by Nigerian Government is a common phenomenon in the Nigerian polity despite that the courts are the life-blood of democracy, fairness, and rule of law. Nigerian governments both at federal and states are notorious in disobeying and disregarding court orders with utter disdain. In law, there is no justification for disobeying court orders. When a court order has been given either rightly or wrongly, the order must be obeyed. It is unlawful and unconstitutional to disobey orders of the court even if it is perverse. When the governments are law breakers, it invites every citizen to be a law unto himself. In Nigeria, where the rule of law is embodied in the constitution, self- help or disobedience of court orders is not available to the government in view of the fact that such disobedience can breed anarchy and totalitarianism which are antithesis to democracy, rule of law and due process. The current situation where orders of court are challenged and openly criticised in open spaces and social media platform is appalling and condemnable.” he said

He urged the executive arm to refrain from self-help, but to rather seek redress from court when it has grievance.

“Adherence to the Rule of Law by government is not a matter of rhetoric, but a systemic entrenchment of an independent judiciary to serve the people.