Festus Ogun, a legal practitioner, has expressed strong disapproval of a portion of President Bola Tinubu’s Democracy Day speech delivered on Monday. In his nationwide broadcast, Tinubu stated, “It has become imperative to state here that the unnecessary illegal orders used to truncate or abridge democracy will no longer be tolerated.CONTINUE READING>>>...CONTINUE READING
In response, the human rights activist characterized the president’s statement as a “threat” to the judiciary and cautioned against the intimidation of judges.
Ogun believes that the president’s “reckless threat to the judiciary is deliberately targeted at the eminent justices of the Presidential Election Tribunal.”
He argued, “To be clear, any tribunal order declaring Tinubu’s return as invalid cannot ‘truncate democracy’; it would rather strengthen it.”
According to Ogun, Tinubu’s statement constitutes “an affront in a democracy” and undermines the fundamental principles of separation of powers as enshrined in Sections 4, 5, and 6 of the 1999 Constitution.
The Principal Partner of Festus Ogun Legal emphasized that court orders should be respected and not dismissed as “illegal.”
He viewed such an assertion as an “abuse” and a calculated attempt by Tinubu to undermine Nigeria’s fragile democracy.
Ogun further remarked, “This signifies a government that will not respect court orders, particularly unfavorable ones they consider illegal.CONTINUE READING>>>
