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May 29, 2019
His excellence
Muhammadu Buhari GCFR
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Aso Rock Presidential Villa
Abuja
Your excellence,
Re: Request to make every day of the rest of your stay at Aso Rock a day dedicated to the rule of law
Before you take office and start your second term today, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urges you to publicly commit to making every day of the rest of your stay at Aso Rock a "Rule of Law Day", including ensuring that every segment of your government's day-to-day activities is lawful and lawful, in the interests of fairness, justice, your legacy as a that president and the success of your anti-corruption program, which remained stuck in limbo mainly because of persistent disobedience to Nigerian court rulings.
SERAP is a non-profit, non-partisan, legal and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting transparency, accountability and respect for socio-economic rights in Nigeria. SERAP received the Wole Soyinka Award for the Defense Against Corruption in 2014. He was also nominated for the UN Civil Society Award and the Jubilee Award from the Ford Foundation for Transparency. SERAP is one of two representatives of Sub-Saharan Africa's civil society on the steering committee of the Coalition Against Corruption, a global anti-corruption network of more than 380 civil society organizations (CSOs) in more than 100 countries.
SERAP is deeply concerned that the results of the "rule of law law" of the past four years are seriously undermining your government's fight against corruption and in the country. Deficits in the rule of law have been particularly marked in three areas: non-compliance with Nigerian court rulings, lack of transparency in the disclosure of senior officials' holdings and refusal to seek unexplained badets orders. against former presidents and former leaders. governors and other senior officials suspected of experiencing proceeds of corruption and "dirty money".
The high profile judgments your government refuses to obey include at least two judgments obtained by SERAP. The first is the judgment of Judge Hadiza Rabiu Shagari, ordering the government to let Nigerians know the stolen property that was recovered, with details of the amounts recovered. The second judgment, handed down by Judge Mohammed Idris, ordered the government to publish detailed information on the spending of stolen funds recovered by successive governments since the return of democracy in 1999.
Another court order still to be complied with is the release of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and his wife, Zeenah, from the illegal detention obtained by the human rights lawyer. of the man and Nigeria's leading lawyer, Femi Falana.
The persistent disobedience of the decisions of our courts by the government has paved the way for many state governors, including using anti-media laws to suppress the civic space, targeting journalists and human rights defenders, and s & rsquo; Grant life pensions and commit great corruption and other appalling atrocities.
Nigeria's democracy should be based on respect for human rights and the rule of law. To treat the decisions of the Nigerian courts as non-binding runs counter to any contemporary notion of the rule of law and democracy and will clearly work against the fight against corruption.
Ignoring or refusing to obey the decisions of our courts implicitly renders the judiciary incapable of upholding constitutional and legal rights, violating the separation of powers, undermining legality and, ultimately, posing serious problems for the judiciary. Government commitment to fight against grand corruption.
By publicly committing to a day devoted to "the rule of law" every day of your second term, you ensure that the decisions of our courts are fully respected, refocused, improved and strengthened the anti-corruption agenda. It will also remind us that no one is immune from the law, not even the government.
Democracy is an inherent element of the rule of law. Respect for court decisions, the promotion of transparency of senior government officials and the prosecution of former senior officials suspected of living by the proceeds of corruption and "dirty money" are closely linked to society. existence and consolidation of democracy, good governance and development.
SERAP therefore asks you to seize the opportunity of your second mandate to implement your often expressed commitment to the rule of law by immediately obeying the decisions of the Nigerian courts, promoting the transparency of badet declarations by issuing widely the details of your wealth declaration, encouraging the vice-Professor Yemi Osinbajo will do the same and will invite all your ministers to publish their declarations of wealth.
SERAP also urges you immediately to instruct your next Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to enforce unexplained court orders against all former presidents (and their successors), former governors, former presidents of the Senate and former presidents of the Senate. House of Representatives. aiming to force those of them suspected of living from corrupt proceeds and "dirty money" to reveal the sources of their fortune or risk losing it.
Thanking you in advance for your urgent attention to the issue.
Regards,
Kolawole Oluwadare
Deputy director
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