National Interest Supersedes Individual Rights - Buhari

[Edoman]

President Muhammadu Buhari has charged Nigerian lawyers to put national interest and professional ethics above self in their business conduct.

The president stressed that the Rule of Law must be subject to the supremacy of the nation’s security and national interest.

President Buhari gave the charge at the opening of the 59th Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference (AGC), which commenced in Abuja on Sunday.

“Our apex court has had cause to adopt a position on this issue in this regard and it is now a matter of judicial recognition that; where national security and public interest are threatened or there is a likelihood of their being threatened, the individual rights of those allegedly responsible must take second place, in favour of the greater good of society,” he said. 

The president, who congratulated the in-coming executive of the NBA led by Paul Usoro (SAN), reminded lawyers of their responsibility to work for national cohesion and unity through their speeches and public positions and most importantly in their advocacy in court in the upcoming 2019 General Elections.

He said the country has made appreciable progress and learnt useful lessons on the dynamism of our society in the anti-corruption fight.

“However, elements within every society, including some lawyers, can equally become unduly resistant to change, even where it is proven that such change is to serve the interest of the larger society. At worst, corruption fights back,” he added.

In his speech, the President of NBA, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) gave more insights into the choice of the theme of the conference: “Transition, Transformation and Sustainable Institutions,” saying the country is passing through economic and political transition. 

He listed some human rights, dispute resolution interventions of the NBA in the North East, Niger Delta, Benue, Southern Kaduna, and Zamfara states and pledged that the NBA “will remain vigilant in the defense of the constitution and the rule of law.”

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo is expected to give the keynote address to the conference today.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/national-interest-supersedes-individual-rights-buhari-267598.html

[Edoman]

President Buhari cannot continue to subjugate the two other independent arms of government. 


Nigeria is practising a democracy

Allow them to be autonomous 

[Edoman]

Soyinka to Buhari: Rulers who tried to annul the law paid heavily




Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, says those who tried to alter the rule of law paid heavily for this.
The literary scholar said this in response to President Muhammadu Buhari’s position that “national security” is superior to the the rule of law.
Buhari said this at the 2018 annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja.
But Soyinka disagreed, recalling human rights record of the Buhari military regime.

“Here we go again! At his first coming, it was “I intend to tamper with Freedom of the Press”, and Buhari did proceed to suit action to the words, sending two journalists – Irabor and Thompson – to prison as a reward for their professional integrity,” he said in an article.

“Now, a vague, vaporous, but commodious concept dubbed “national interest” is being trotted out as alibi for flouting the decisions of the Nigerian judiciary. President Buhari has obviously given deep thought to his travails under a military dictatorship, and concluded that his incarceration was also in the “national interest”.

“The timing is perfect, and we have cause to be thankful for the advance warning, since not all rulers actually make a declaration of intent, but simply proceed to degrade the authority of the law as part of the routine business of governance. We have been there before. It should be of mere interest, not despondency, that this latest proclamation of dictatorial recidivism has also been made before an assembly of officers of the law, the Nigerian Bar Association. We expect a robust response from the NBA as part of its conclusions.

“There is no short cut to democracy. The history of law, even where uncodified, is as old as humanity. Numerous rulers have tried again and again to annul that institution. Sometimes, they appear to succeed, but in the end, they pay heavy forfeit. So does society. 

The Rule of Law however outlasts all subverters, however seemingly powerful. If the consequences for society in defence of the Rule of Law were not so costly, any new attempt would be merely banal and boring, hardly deserving of attention. We know, historically, where it will all end.”


https://www.thecable.ng/soyinka-buhari-rulers-tried-annul-law-paid-heavily/amp