{"id":67009,"date":"2019-05-29T14:14:34","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T13:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=67009"},"modified":"2019-05-29T14:14:34","modified_gmt":"2019-05-29T13:14:34","slug":"obey-rule-of-laws-in-your-second-term-serap-tells-buhari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/obey-rule-of-laws-in-your-second-term-serap-tells-buhari\/","title":{"rendered":"Obey Rule of Laws In Your Second Term, SERAP Tells Buhari"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an<\/div>\n
open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of his inauguration for<\/div>\n
second term in office, urging him to “publicly commit to making every<\/div>\n
day of your stay in Aso Rock a ‘Rule of Law’ Day, including by ensuring<\/div>\n
that every segment of your government’s daily operations is lawful and<\/div>\n
rule-of-law compliant, for the sake of fairness, justice, your legacy,<\/div>\n
and the success of your anti-corruption agenda, which has remained stuck<\/div>\n
in limbo.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The organization expressed: “serious concerns that the results of the<\/div>\n
‘rule of law MOT’ in the past four years are uniquely damaging to your<\/div>\n
government’s fight against corruption and to the country.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In a letter dated 29 May 2019 and signed by SERAP deputy director<\/div>\n
Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “Making a public commitment<\/div>\n
to dedicate every day of your second term as a ‘Rule of Law’ day will<\/div>\n
help to ensure that decisions of our courts are fully obeyed, refocus,<\/div>\n
improve and reinforce the anti-corruption agenda. It will also serve as<\/div>\n
a reminder that no one has immunity from the law, not even the<\/div>\n
government.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The organization said: “The deficits in the rule of law have been<\/div>\n
particularly notable in three areas: failure to obey decisions of<\/div>\n
Nigerian courts, failure to push for transparency in asset declarations<\/div>\n
by high-ranking public officials and failure to push for unexplained<\/div>\n
wealth orders against former presidents and former governors and other<\/div>\n
senior public officials suspected of living on proceeds of corruption<\/div>\n
and ‘dirty money’.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The letter read in part: “We urge you to use the opportunity of your<\/div>\n
second term to begin to implement your oft-expressed commitment to the<\/div>\n
rule of law by immediately obeying decisions of Nigerian courts,<\/div>\n
promoting transparency in asset declarations by publishing widely<\/div>\n
details of your assets declaration, encouraging Vice-President Professor<\/div>\n
Yemi Osinbajo to do the same, and instructing all your ministers to<\/div>\n
publish their asset declarations.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“We also urge you to immediately instruct your next Attorney General of<\/div>\n
the Federation and Minister of Justice to pursue unexplained wealth<\/div>\n
court orders against all former presidents (and their estates), former<\/div>\n
governors, former presidents of the Senate and former speakers of the<\/div>\n
House of Representatives aimed at forcing those of them suspected of<\/div>\n
living on proceeds of corruption and ‘dirty money’ to reveal sources of<\/div>\n
their fortune or risk forfeiting it.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“Nigeria’s democracy ought to have as its foundation respect for human<\/div>\n
rights and the rule of law. Treating the decisions of Nigerian courts as<\/div>\n
not binding is antithetical to any contemporary notion of the rule of<\/div>\n
law and democracy, and clearly counter-productive to the fight against<\/div>\n
corruption.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“Ignoring or refusing to obey decisions of our courts is implicitly<\/div>\n
rendering the judiciary powerless to enforce constitutional and legal<\/div>\n
rights, violating separation of powers, undermining the rule of law, and<\/div>\n
ultimately, raising serious question marks on the government’s<\/div>\n
commitment to fight grand corruption.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“Democracy is an inherent element of the rule of law, and obeying<\/div>\n
decisions of the courts, pushing for transparency of high-ranking<\/div>\n
government officials and going after former senior officials suspected<\/div>\n
of living on proceeds of corruption and ‘dirty money’ are closely<\/div>\n
connected with the existence and consolidation of democracy, good<\/div>\n
governance and development.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“Persistent disobedience of decisions of our courts by the government<\/div>\n
has opened the way for many state governors to do the same within their<\/div>\n
states including by using anti-media laws to suppress the civic space,<\/div>\n
target journalists and human rights defenders, grant to themselves<\/div>\n
pensions for life and commit grand corruption and other appalling<\/div>\n
atrocities.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“High-profile judgments your government is refusing to obey include at<\/div>\n
least two judgments obtained by SERAP. The first is the judgment by<\/div>\n
Justice Hadiza Rabiu Shagari ordering the government to tell Nigerians<\/div>\n
about the stolen asset it allegedly recovered, with details of the<\/div>\n
amounts recovered. The second judgment, by Justice Mohammed Idris,<\/div>\n
ordered the government to publish details on the spending of stolen<\/div>\n
funds recovered by successive governments since the return of democracy<\/div>\n
in 1999.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“Another court order that is yet to be complied with is the order for<\/div>\n
the release of Islamic Movement of Nigeria leader, Sheikh Ibrahim<\/div>\n
El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenah, from unlawful detention, obtained by<\/div>\n
human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana.”<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of his inauguration for second term in office, urging him to “publicly commit to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nObey Rule of Laws In Your Second Term, SERAP Tells Buhari - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/obey-rule-of-laws-in-your-second-term-serap-tells-buhari\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Obey Rule of Laws In Your Second Term, SERAP Tells Buhari - 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