“My take is that this government is not fully observant of the rule of
law. We can’t be debating these issues as if we don’t know what we are
talking about."
A prominent human rights lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, says the President
Muhammadu Buhari regime has little or no regard for the rule of law in
Nigeria.
He also accused Buhari's spokesmen, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu of
justifying the violations of people's rights in the country.
Ogunye stated that the All Progressives Congress-led federal
government was characterized by various violations of the rule of law.
“We have the violations of the rule of law with the spokespersons for
the government in the executive branch of the federal government of
Nigeria justifying these violations on all sorts of grounds, including
the ground of national security.
“My take is that this government is not fully observant of the rule of
law. We can’t be debating these issues as if we don’t know what we are
talking about.
“There are clear cases of violations. The court will give orders in
respect of clear cases, in respect of certain persons to be released
and they are not released,” he said.
The legal practitioner stated this while appearing on a ChannelsTV programme.
He also accused the Buhari regime of not obeying court orders under
the guise of 'national security'.
Ogunye’s comments came on the heels of the arrest, detention, and
arraignment of human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore by the Department
of State Services (DSS) for organizing the #RevolutionNow protest
which the federal government claimed was an attempt to violently
overthrow Buhari.
Sowore was an opponent of the incumbent president in the last
presidential election.