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HURIWA commends judiciary over leadership newspaper’s publisher

June 19, 2009

HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA, HURIWA, a media focused and Democracy inclined Non-Governmental Organization has Yesterday commended the decision of the Abuja High Court which on Thursday halted the trial of the publisher of the Leadership Newspaper Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah and other top editorial staff of the Newspaper in a matter instituted by President Umaru Musa Yar’adua for allegedly publishing damaging and false report over the President Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s health challenge. The Rights Group through its National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko in a media release made available to Journalists described the decision of the court as another phase of monumental advancement of the frontiers of respect of the constitutionally protected fundamental human rights and the rule of law in Nigeria.


HURIWA also advised President Umaru Musa Yar’adua to accept the decision of the Abuja High Court which sat as an appellate court and not to waste tax payers’ money any further in deploying the legal representatives from the Federal ministry of Justice by pursuing the matter further. As a self acclaimed disciple of the principle of rule of law, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua was therefore advised to bury the hatchet and terminate the matter against the Leadership Newspaper publisher and his team of top editorial staff over the matter of whether they published false report on his health condition or not because according to the rights group, public opinion supports the termination of that matter by the President now.

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Specifically, an Abuja High Court sitting as an appellate court over the ruling of an Abuja Chief magistrate’s court on the alleged defamation charge against the Leadership publisher and three others, declared that President Yar’adua was incompetent in initiating and maintaining the legal action against the respondents because of section 308 of the 1999 constitution which confers immunity on the President from criminal or civil action while in office. The Court adjourned the matter sine die [indefinitely] pending the expiration of the President’s tenure during which time the immunity he enjoys would have lapsed. The two member panel of the Abuja High Court led by Justice Abubakar Talba ruled that the trial chief magistrate Mr. Stanley Ochimana was wrong in law for refusing to adjourn the matter sine die [indefinitely] even when it was obvious that there was a breach of the fundamental constitutional right of the respondents in the original matter [the publisher and three others] as enshrined in section 36[5] and [6] of the constitution which provides for fair hearing. The Court held that there was merit in the appeal by the newspaper publisher and three others in the appeal filed against the decision of the lower court because not overturning the decision of the magistrate court would have denied the appellants [respondents in the original matter filed by President Yar’adua] the right to call witnesses of their choice because they could not summoned the sitting President as their witness.

HURIWA stated that the decision of the court to halt the proceedings against the Journalists is a vindication of its stand against the case of the President from onset even as it reiterated its opposition to the decision of the President to deploy public resources and lawyers on the payroll of the Federal Republic of Nigeria funded by the tax payers including the Journalists being prosecuted by the President of Nigeria in his private matter that borders on his private health challenge.

According to HURIWA; ‘’As Human Rights practitioners with absolutely no personal grudge against our President, we had consistently opposed the decision of the President to so deploy public resources and lawyers paid by the public to prosecute his private legal agenda against some group of Nigerians because we believe that it is an abuse of power and the constitutional oath of office of the President as provided for in the seventh schedule of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 which in part clearly states that the President ‘SHALL strive to protect the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy  contained in the constitution’ and that the President ‘will not allow HIS PERSONAL INTEREST’ TO INFLUENCE HIS OFFICIAL CONDUCT OR HIS OFFICIAL DECISION....’’

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HURIWA stated that by this ruling, the judiciary has once more demonstrated its will power to contribute its quota in the collective aspiration and quest of Nigerians to advance the frontiers of the respect for the fundamental Human Rights of Nigerians and the enthronement of vibrant democracy and the rule of law even as the rights group encouraged Journalists to remain fearless in the discharge of their constitutional duties protected by section 22 of the 1999 constitution but urged Nigerian media workers to be vigilant and thorough in publishing balanced and objective reports without let or hindrance.

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