…. .Ajulo Asks Tinubu to Caution DSS Operations
A renowned Constitutional Lawyer, Rights Activist and National Honouree of Officer of the Order of Niger, Dr Kayode Ajulo OON, has asked the Department of State Services, DSS, to respect the rule of law in pursuing the case against the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFFC, Abdulrasheed Bawa and others, and not infringe on their fundamental rights.
The lawyer said it is unlawful to keep Mr Bawa in detention longer than when the law stipulates. He asked President Tinubu to caution the operations of the men of the DSS concerning the matter and ensure that the rule of law prevails.
Read the full statement;
ATTENTION MR PRESIDENT: ILLEGAL AND LONG DETENTION OF MR ABDULRASHEED BAWA & OTHERS BY THE DSS AND THE IMPERATIVENESS OF THE COURT TO DECIDE THEIR FATE
I once again present my warmest and most sincere compliments to our dear President, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR. Hearty kudos for the months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds spent in power and for taking bold, pragmatic and egalitarian steps to assent several bills into law in a bid to boost and revive the country’s economy amidst other strata. I unreservedly salute your Excellency for the developments thus far but would however beseech and appeal that several of the bills passed should be professionally reviewed further to ensure that better amendments are made to some of them but I would, however, dwell less on this path as that is not the locus and focus of this press statement.
Your Excellency would recall that on May 29th, 2023 during your swearing-in and in your inaugural speech, you said,
_*“Our constitution and laws give us a nation on paper. We must work harder at bringing these noble documents to life by strengthening the bonds of economic collaboration, social cohesion, and cultural understanding. Let us develop a shared sense of fairness and equity”.*_
Further in defining the principles that would guide your administration, Your Excellency then said:
_*“Nigeria will be impartially governed according to the constitution and the rule of law”.*_
However, before this time Mr President you have displayed your trust in and advocacy for the rule of law as enshrined in the speech you directed to the former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004, about 19 years ago, during the Christmas Eve event at Island Club in Lagos. You said:
_*”Federal government has a responsibility. They are the leader of moral persuasion. The number one law implementer must obey the rule of the land. You cannot be junketing around the world looking for investment for this country- you want to create employment opportunity, you want people to come and invest in Nigeria. The investors will ask you can I come in and if I find anything wrong can I go to your judiciary, will you obey the rule of law?”*_
The first principle on the list, though brief and concise but entails and embeds a lot in its simplicity. Therefore, the same cannot be said casually without work done towards upholding and adhering to it.
Your Excellency, let me also remind you that one of the fundamental ills of the past administration headed by former President Muhammadu Buhari which was vehemently rebuked by many Nigerians was his failure to comply with the provisions of the Constitution regarding issues of unlawful detention as many suffered abuses to their Fundamental Rights as provided for in chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(as amended), particularly provisions of Section 35 relating to rights to Personal Liberty and further recognized by the provisions of Articles 6 & 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as Articles 3 & 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Consequently, in impartial governance according to the constitution and rule of law, issues of rights of individuals and citizens should be paramount and all measures, actions and procedures to correct aberrant personnel should be done by the provisions of the law and nothing below such standard counts as same contradicts the principles with which your administration sets out to govern the Nation.