Nigeria’s Anti-Graft War: Buhari & Falana disrespecting
court
AT different fora, President Muhammadu Buhari and a
prominent human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)
said treasury looters and corrupt persons facing charges before the court do
not deserve bail.
Falana made his statement as the keynote speaker on
Thursday, March 31 2016, while delivering a paper titled “Rule of Law and
Treatment of Politically-exposed Corruption Cases” delivered on his behalf by
Mr. Wahab Shittu at the seminar on anti-corruption war summoned by the
Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, University of Lagos.
He also made a case of the creation of special courts to
enable Buhari end this war well before the 2019 elections.
In one of his presidential media chats, Buhari said
government was not prepared to release from detention the leader of the
Indigenous People of Biafra and Director of the Europe Based Radio Biafra Mr.
Nnamdi Kanu for alleged treason, and former National Security Adviser (NSA),
Sambo Dasuki, a retired Army Colonel, who is facing corruption charges
The Punch of April 1, 2016, however captured Falana this
way, “Since victims of grand corruption including armed robbery and kidnap
suspects are not usually admitted to bail, those who are charged with looting
the treasury should no longer be granted bail.”
Same day Daily Post, quoted Buhari as saying, “Dasuki, who
is presently in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), has
multiple cases in court, which he must diligently face and answer. Nnamdi Kanu
has committed a serious offence and therefore government is not prepared to
release him based on the numerous bail orders handed down by the different
courts''.
It appears, government under Buhari, a former military
dictator, has devised some incongruous means of frustrating the duo from
enjoying bail orders.
Comments Spark Rebuttals
Emmanuel Onwubiko, Head, Human Rights Writers Association
(HURIWA), Nigeria, intervened in one of his media chats, saying that those who
said that corrupt persons in detention do not have a right for bail, were
murderers of the position of the Constitution.
Hence, Onwubiko quoted the comments made by the Senior
Advocates of Nigeria, saying the right of accused persons to counsel of their
choice and the Duty of Lawyers to defend their clients without Fear or
discrimination:
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