A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN); human rights lawyers and a rights advocacy group, the Centre for Social Justice and Accountability (CSJA), have called on the federal government to strictly adhere to the principle of rule of law, fairness, and justice in the handling of the case of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
While Daudu expressed optimism that President Bola Tinubu, with his background as an advocate of democracy, will not support arbitrariness, Maxwell Opara, Abdulazeez Tijani and Anthony Akpua of the CSJA said the way the federal government handles the case would shape the way foreign investors and related interests would relate with the new administration.
They spoke Saturday in reaction to the various court pronouncements on the government’s continued detention of Emefiele and his planned arraignment by the Department of State Services (DSS) on a charge filed before the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Daudu said: “I do not think that the President, who is a newly minted President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, will like to start his administration with the organisations under him disobeying court orders.
“He (Tinubu) was at the forefront as a NADECO man to chastise military governments for disobeying court orders.
“Now that power is in his hand, we will see whether he, himself will obey court orders,” the ex-NBA President said in reaction to Thursday’s judgment by Justice Hamza Muazu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Justice Muazu, who gave the DSS seven days within which to either charge Emefiele to a court or release him, held that the alleged offences for which the suspended governor was being held were bailable because they were not capital in nature, adding that he was not accused of killing anybody.
On his part, Opara noted that from his experience, the DSS was creating the impression that it is above the law of the country.
He said he was not surprised about how Emefiele’s case was being handled by DSS, “because the secret police have made disrespect to rule of law part of its life.
“Talking about the rule of law or tendering court’s judgment before the DSS irritates the management of the agency,” he said and urged the President to overhaul the agency.
Tijani on his part, said President Tinubu must prove and establish that he is a true democrat and not a semi- democrat like some of his predecessors.
He argued that Emefiele was not charged to court for known criminal offences within the time allowed by law.
“For more than four months, the DSS had sought to arrest Emefiele. Between that time and now, it ought to have completed its investigation. DSS cannot hide under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, to hold a Nigerian citizen till eternity because ACJA is inferior to the 1999 Constitution,” he said.
The activist pointed out that Emefiele’s case will be a big test to President Tinubu in his avowed commitment to the rule of law”, adding that Emefiele’s rights must be respected until the law court says otherwise.”
Akpua noted that the whole world is watching the way the government is handling the case, with its capacity to shape the way the country is viewed by international investors in the area of respect for the rule of law.
In a two-count charge marked: FHC/L/437/2023, filed on July 13 at the Federal High Court in Lagos, by the DSS, Emefiele is to be subjected to trial for alleged unlawful possession of one single barrel shotgun (Jojeff Magnum 8371) without licence, which is said to constitute an offence under Section 4 of the Firearms Laws of the Federation 2004 and punishable under Section 27 (1) (b) (i) of the same Act.
The suspended CBN governor is equally accused of having, in his possession, 123 rounds of live ammunition (cartridges) without licence, which items were said to have been unlawfully kept at No.3B Iru Close, Ikoyi, Lagos “on or about the 15th June 2023.”
On his part, Uyo-based human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, said Emefiele’s alleged offence ought to be investigated by the police and not the DSS.
Effiong said: “This is ridiculous, extremely ridiculous; if you are keeping somebody in custody for over 30 days and the reason for detaining the person is possession of firearms, it shows that the agency is not serious; it shows that the government is not serious; it shows that they have taken Nigerians for a fool.
“Because what they said was on the insinuation that Emefiele was being detained for alleged terrorism financing, now, if you are now charging him for illegal possession of firearms and this was a charge that came about after his house was invaded, then it means that they are telling us that before his house was searched, they had no reason to have arrested him.
“Why is it the DSS that is now the one investigating the case of physical possession of firearms? That is supposed to be within the jurisdiction of the police because it does not necessarily affect the internal security of the country, which is what the DSS is statutorily empowered by the National Security Agencies Act to do.”
Effiong further accused the DSS for being a “political tool in the hand of occupants of Aso Rock and it makes nonsense of the entire case.”
Also, commenting on the development, rights activist, Mr. Jones Akpan, also insisted that it was not within statutory powers of the DSS to charge for illegal possession of firearms.
He said: “The DSS cannot be seen to be prevaricating and blowing hot and cold. Are they just waking up to the realisation that Emefiele is in possession of firearms just only when the courts have ordered his release or he will be charged to Court? Is it within their statutory powers to charge for illegal possession of firearms?
“It is pertinent to ascertain who is empowered under the extant laws to issue licenses for firearms. The authorised agency to issue approval for gun licence should be in the position to sanction those who have not been issued licence.”
Similarly, a financial analyst and Chief Executive Officer, Dairy Hills Limited, Mr. Kelvin Emmanuel, said the culture of impunity through which law enforcement and security agencies use the instrumentality of state to administer cases is worrisome.
Emmanuel pointed out that it was unconstitutional that the suspended CBN governor had been kept in detention for about a month against the provisions of the fundamental rights act as stipulated in the 1999 constitution.
He said, “the rule of law is one of the most important metrics foreign investors use as a tool to measure the ease of doing business, and grounds for which to deploy capital into a country.
“The government needs to understand that every single thing it does is a signal to international investors on how issues on fair hearing, fundamental human rights, equality before the law and independence of the judiciary is situated.”
Emefiele was arrested on June 10, 2023, a day after he was suspended by President Bola Tinubu, and he is still being held in the custody of the DSS.
Alex Enumah and James Emejo in Abuja
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