Atiku Abubakar & Muhammadu Buhari. |
Being a letter written by HE Atiku Abubakar to the Ambassadors
of France, Germany, EU, Us and UK High Commissioner.
Dear
Your Excellency,
CONSTITUTIONAL
BREACHES UNDER THE WATCH OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI
I
have chosen to write this letter to Your Excellency for the enviable role that
your country plays as champion of Democracy and the Rule of Law. I am also
writing you as Nigeria’s international development partner working together to
deepen and strengthen our democracy as well as to help in the transformation of
our economies and societies for the better.
President
Muhammadu Buhari is threatening our democracy by serially breaching the
provisions of our constitution and undermining organs and institutions of State
in order to advance his personal interest. While the President has ironically
taken oath to safeguard and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, the reality of his selective and wanton violations of its provisions
means that his oath is observed only in the breach.
And
as Your Excellency very much knows, respect for the rule of law is integral to
promoting and preserving the values and principles of democracy. Sadly,
however, by the actions of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, one is
forced to think otherwise.
As
a Presidential Candidate in the forthcoming General Elections that will be
conducted and supervised by the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari, I
feel the urgent need to share with you some of these key violations of the
provisions of our constitution and to demand that you pile pressure on the
Federal Government to desist from these violations and ensure a level playing
field for the General Elections that are only a couple of weeks away. We
acknowledge with profound appreciation the positions taken by some members of
the International Community in Nigeria and urge Your Excellency to add your
country’s very strong voice against these breaches of Nigeria’s constitution.
Your Voice is very important to the survival of Nigeria’s democracy.
Some
of these constitutional infractions are highlighted below for your information
and action as you may deem appropriate.
1. The Purported
Suspension of CJN Onnoghen
On
Friday, January 25, 2019, our nation woke up to the shocking news of the
unilateral and extra-constitutional suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria,
Justice Walter Onnoghen and the immediate appointment and swearing in of
Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, as the new acting Chief Justice of Nigeria
(CJN). This action of President Muhammadu Buhari, not only breaches the
Nigerian Constitution, but has also managed to undermine Presidential democracy
by assaulting one of its hallowed doctrines of separation of Powers. For the
records, Justice Walter Onnoghen is the head of one of the Tripartite but
mutually independent organs that form the government of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. To attempt to muscle out the Chief Justice of Nigeria using phony
charges at a time when His Lordship was primed to play a central role in the fast
approaching nationwide electoral process represents the boldest steps in the
march to undermine our democracy. This is undoubtedly an anti-democratic act
which my political Party and I reject without reservation and for which I urge
Your Excellency to condemn unequivocally.
Need I say, this brazen authoritarian and imperious stride of
President Buhari is the latest action in a series of carefully planned
onslaught on our nation’s hard earned democracy by an extremely power hungry
and anxious President and the cabal that feeds fat around him as February 16,
2019 draws nearer.
The fact that the unlawful suspension of Chief Justice Walter
Onnoghen was announced just as it became public knowledge that the CJN was
constituting the election petition tribunals is not lost on discerning
Nigerians and the international community. This act of desperation is geared
towards affecting the outcome of the 2019 Presidential elections. Indeed, it is
not just the CJN that has been "suspended", it is the Nigerian
Constitution that has been infracted and, in effect, suspended, under the guise
of the suspension of the CJN.
The case involving the legality or otherwise of the charges
against Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen is in court, as it should be. So far, the
judiciary has ruled in Justice Onnoghen’s favour. So, why not allow the court
to adjudicate on the matter? What is the pressing urgency about this
matter?
Let me therefore take the opportunity of this letter to urge
your country and all well-meaning members of the International community to
mount pressure on this government and all its anti-democracy functionaries know
that their actions will have consequences. Strong consequences.
2. The
illegal purchase of the Tucano Aircrafts:
President
Buhari sometime in April 2018 approved the purchase of Tucano Aircrafts for the
Nigerian Military at the sum of $496 million (Four Hundred and Ninety-Six
Million United States Dollars). This, he did, without seeking prior approval of
the National Assembly contrary to Section 80 (3) and (4) of the 1999
Constitution (as amended) which states very clearly, how the President can
spend monies belonging to the Federation. It provides:
“(3)
No money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other
public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National
Assembly.”
“(4)
No monies shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other
public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National
Assembly”
3. Disregard
for Orders of Courts:
The
Muhammadu Buhari administration has serially violated court orders, going
against the rule of law especially in three known cases.
a. Col.
Sambo Dasuki (Former National Security Adviser): Various courts have
granted Col. Dasuki bail on at least six different occasions; the Buhari
led government has persistently refused to comply with
the court orders.
· Federal
High Court in Abuja presided by Justice Adeniyi Ademola in 2015
ordered the release of Col. Dasuki’s passport and granted him permission to
travel abroad for three weeks on medical grounds. Despite the order made on November 3, the Department of State
Security Services, SSS refused to release Col. Dasuki.
· Again,
the former NSA and four others were granted bail on December 18, 2015 on a
similar condition with a N250 million bond by Justice Hussein-Baba Yusuf.
· Similarly,
the former NSA; a former Minister of State for Finance, Bashir Yuguda; former
Sokoto Governor, Attahiru Bafarawa; and three others were granted bail by Justice Peter Affen on December 21, 2015 by the
Federal Capital Territory High Court in the sum of
N250 million each and two sureties in like sum. The Federal Government
cherry-picked the order whilst disobeying the part that concerned the former
NSA.
· The
ECOWAS Court presided by Honorable Justice F.C. Nwoke on October 4 2016 granted
the former NSA bail and ordered the Nigerian Government to pay N15 Million to
the defendant as damages for his “illegal and arbitrary detention”.
· On
17 January 2018, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja reaffirmed previous
court orders granting Col. Dasuki bail.
· Also
on April 6, 2018 the Abuja Division of the Federal
High Court affirmed, for the umpteenth time, its decision for the release of Col. Dasuki.
b. Ibraheem
El-Zakzaky, Leader of a Shiite Group, IMN:
· Sheikh
El-Zakzaky has been in detention without trial for over 3years after his
followers were massacred in broad daylight; his wife and family killed and his
home burnt, in a gory and shameful show of brute force by the Nigerian Army.
This particular state violence is nothing short of genocide.
· On
December 2, 2016 the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court Presided by
Justice Kolawole ordered the release of Sheikh El-Zakzaky and
berated the Nigerian government for violating his rights.
4. The
approval of $1 billion for military expenditure before approaching the National
Assembly:
The
Nigerian government through the National Economic Council NEC, again in
contravention of Section 80 (3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as
amended), granted approval for the release of $1 billion from the Excess
Crude Account, ECA, for the procurement of military hardware and other
equipment to fight insecurity in the country, ahead of the 2019 General
Elections without recourse to the National Assembly. Mansur Dan-Ali, Nigeria's
Defense Minister disclosed this at the end of security chiefs meeting with
President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday,
April 4, 2018. By this act, the Federal Government acted contrary to the
provisions of the Section 80 (3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution, which
states:
“(3)
No monies shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than
the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of those
moneys has been authorized by an Act of the National Assembly.
5. Executive
Order No. 006 (On Preservation of Suspicious Assets and Related Schedules):
The
enactment of the controversial Executive Order No. 006 as an Executive
legislation which permits security agencies to freeze the assets of persons
standing trial or undergoing investigation without recourse to court orders.
This is a usurpation of legislative and judicial powers of the National
Assembly and the judiciary as enshrined respectively under sections 4 and 6 of
the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and reminiscent of the
military era of decrees.
The
above, and many more that did not make it into this very short letter, are the
unfortunate actions of the Government of a man who merely pays lip service to
being a reformed democrat.
General
Elections are upon us yet again. I urge you to partner with Nigerians to defend
our constitution and play an active role in building our country. The choices
facing all of us is either to stand aside and watch Nigerians reelect a
President who has been in constant violation of the laws of the land without
remorse; or to support them show him the way out and elect a true democrat. We
must send a clear message that the Nigerian Nation is bigger than any
individual.
Even
if Nigerians opted not to elect me as President, the incumbent must go into the
polls on his own record of lack of respect for the Rule of Law and not on the
spurious perception of his “Integrity”. We need to set precedence for
successive leaders not to take democratic mandate for granted.
Sincerely,
Atiku
Abubakar, GCON
(Waziri
Adamawa)
Former
Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Presidential
Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP
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