More reactions have trailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s comments at the opening of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference that “the rule of law must be subject to the supremacy of the nation’s security and national interest”.
A human rights group, the Access to Justice (A2J), said national security is consistent with, and not exclusive of, the rule of law.
In a statement by its Director Joseph Otteh and Programme Officer Daniel Aloaye, the group said the President misses the mark when he gives the impression that national security and rule of law are competing or exclusive notions or that a state must prioritise one over the other.
“This is a mis-representation of the relationship between the rule of law and national security. National security and the rule of law do not contradict one another; neither are they mutually exclusive concepts.
“The rule of law embodies the principle of governance that all persons, institutions and entities, including the state itself, are bound by duly made laws, including laws on national security,” A2Justice said.
The group noted that a state of war or emergency may be legitimate grounds for limiting the exercise of some human rights. It, however, said even then, the limitations have to be imposed in accordance with law.
A2Justice said: “There is, therefore, no conflict between the two notions. In any event, no state of emergency has been declared in Nigeria, neither is the country in a state of war with another country.
“The President’s remarks come against the background of his government’s persistent disregard of court orders and judgments, repression of media freedom, gross human rights abuses by security and law enforcement agencies, intimidation of, and interference with the functions of other branches of government.
“National security did not require the government to behave the way it has done in all of these cases, and clearly did not require security forces to commit large scale extrajudicial killings, or for the police to arrest and imprison female protesters for protesting!”
The group urged President Buhari to correct the impression that he has disregard for rule of law.
“The President must also resist the temptation to use rhetoric and euphemisms associated with brutal, despotic, non-democratic governments in eras quite different from now to define what national or state security is.
“State or national security ought not to be the parochial interest of any government, or the security, for that matter, of that government; it is not the peculiar interest a government has with respect to specific people or their causes, or its interest of stifling political opposition.
“Access to Justice urges President Buhari to respect the limits of executive powers and not misuse those powers on the grounds of ‘national security’; indeed to recognise that national security is compatible with, and could be better realised by adherence to the rule of law!” the A2Justice said.
Constitutional lawyer and rights activist Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) also disagreed with the President.
He said: “The rule of law presupposes that once a court of law has made an order for the release of a citizen on bail, for example, the president, government and all authorities must obey the order of court.
“It is not for the government to pick and choose which order to obey and which not to obey, in the name of so called ‘national interest’ or ‘national security’.
“This is because in arriving at a decision to release an individual on bail, the court must have first heard the facts and argument of the case of both the government and the citizen.
“It is tantamount to executive lawlessness and governmental capriciousness and whimsicality to sit on appeal over a court decision to determine what amounts to national interest. Such a stance is a clear descent into anarchy and chaos.
“The apex court in the case referred to by Mr. President made its pronouncement based on the peculiar facts of the case before it, the case of Dokubo Asari vs FRN (2007) 12 NWLR (Pt. 1048) 331.
“It was not a blanket statement authorising governments to disobey clear court orders. The case did not state that rule of law should be subordinated to national interest or security.”
Ozekhome said nations are built on precepts, which clearly limit the scope of governmental involvement in human existence.
“Any violation of an individual’s rights and civil liberties is tantamount to a clear subversion of the nation itself. This is because without liberty and fundamental rights, the nation ceases to exist as a coherent entity.
“National security or ‘national interest’ is a veritable smokescreen under which a tyrannical and lawless government hides to promote its own dubious agenda against the hapless masses, thus jettisoning all known provisions of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I hereby reject such illegal and unconstitutional theory,” Ozekhome said.
Immediate past NBA First Vice President Mr Monday Ubani said national interest/security should be as defined by the court after examining all the evidence and factors and not as defined by the executive.
But, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mr Jibrin Okutepa, holds a slightly contrary view.
“Lawyers and politicians have taken the president to the cleaner for this statement. But in Nigeria we are always quick to condemn without first appreciating the truth.
“While I do not agree with the theory of law propounded by the president that national interest overrides the rule of law, the man simply told us the bitter truth of the understanding of those in power in Nigeria. And when I said those in power I mean those in power in all strata, including those in charge of NBA.
“The President chose the best occasion to taunt the legal profession and in particular the NBA who has been breaching the rule of law the principle it claims it is promoting. The way people in power behave will show you that they have no respect for the rule of law when their selfish agenda and primordial interest is involved.
“When we speak of the true meaning of the rule of law and correct application of it, how many people can pass the test in Nigeria, including those of us making noise about what the president said?
“Did we as an association of lawyers observe and apply the rule of law and stick to its tenets in the just concluded charade called NBA election? Please don’t get me wrong. President Buhari is wrong, but I believe he was right in telling us the truth of what actually goes on in Nigeria.
“When you see the way things are done in Nigeria outside the rule of law and people applaud it, you will understand my point. It is only in Nigeria that those in power violate the law and they are not visited with the appropriate sanctions.
“Indeed, in Nigeria we apply the law against those we hate and interpret the law in favour of those we love. That is why what was condemned in 2015 is being hailed in 2018,” Okutepa said.