The recent disregard of President Buhari`s administration to the order of the Supreme Court over the Naira redesign policy sparked uproar among Nigerians who criticised the government’s stiff-necked behavior.
According to Amnesty International, Mr Buhari`s administration has flouted over 40 court orders. The president has shown “stunning disregard for the rule of law and human rights, ignoring Nigerian judges on at least 40 occasions,” Dr Kolawole Olaniyan, legal adviser to Amnesty International said in 2019.
In this copy, The Jurist brings you some of the popular instances where the president disobeyed court orders.
1. Naira redesign policy
Most recent of the President’s disobedience to court orders is the Naira re-design policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The supreme court had on February 8 gave an order suspending the implementation of the February 10th deadline set by the CBN to terminate the validity of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
President Buhari desecrated the order and restored the validity of the old N200 notes and maintained that the old N500 and N1,000 which ignited upheaval and he was condemned for going against the court order.
2. Ibrahim El-Zakzky
Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and his wife, Zeenat were arrested and had been in custody of the Department of State Service (DSS), following a clash between members of the Nigerian Army and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria in Zaria, Kaduna State in December 2015.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the federal high court in Abuja on December 2, 2016 gave an order for the release of the IMN leader and his wife as well as compensation in the sum of 50 million naira which was disobeyed.
3. Sambo Dasuki
Until he was released in December 2019, the Federal Government (FG) flouted court orders despite several orders directing the release of the former National Security Adviser (NSA).
He was arrested by operatives of the State Security Service in December 2015 over accusations of illegitimate possession of firearms and diversion of $2.1 billion from the weapons deal contract.
The Federal High Court in Abuja in July 2018 granted bail to Dasuki from the custody of the DSS where he had been detained. In a suit filed by Dasuki in March 2019 Justice Ojukwu ruled that the ex-NSAs detention since December 2019 violated his rights to liberty.
The Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice on October 4, 2016, ordered his release from the illegal custody; a judgment which the DSS had not obeyed. Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, said government was not under obligation to reverence that court order.
4. Nnamdi Kanu
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu in April 2017 was granted bail by a federal high court in Abuja on health grounds. Kanu was also restricted from granting interview to journalists and barred him from participating in rallies.
The Court also granted Kanu, authorization to apply for an order of mandamus to oblige the DSS to allow him to have unconstrained access to medical care.
However, the federal government led by president Buhari failed to release the IPOB leader, or even grant his access to medical care on several occasions.
5. Recovered loot
Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in Abuja on March 2016 gave an order to the federal government to make public, the spending of recovered stolen funds since the return to democracy in 1999, but the government failed to obey the judgment of the court.
Following that disregard to the law, the Socio Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) filed a contempt proceeding against the FG. Again in 2021 SERAP also urged the president to “Urgently” disclose spending of the looted funds for the promotion of transparency but it is yet to be seen if the government will obey the order of the court before leaving office.
6. Budget Padding
A federal high court in Lagos on May 2018 ordered the President Buhari to mandate AGF Malami and other applicable agencies to immediately prosecute indicted lawmakers in the National Assembly alleged of stealing the sum of N481 billion form the 2016 budget
Justice Mohammed Idris gave the order where Buhari was also ordered to publish report of investigations by security and anti-graft bodies into the alleged 2016 budget padding.
Years down the line, despite the court order, the lawmakers alleged of stealing the country’s funds to the tune of 481bn are yet to be prosecuted.
7. Omoyele Sowore
In August 2019, Omoyele Sowore, a former presidential candidate and publisher of Sahara Reporters was arrested by the DSS in Lagos and subsequently transferred to Abuja where he was kept in detention.
The federal high court in Abuja ordered the court to release the Sahara Publisher after the court granted the DSS leave to retain him for 45 days but Sowore spent much more time in detention after the DSS flouted the court order and kept him in their custody.
Sowore’s lawyer who applied for his bail earlier decried the DSS’ refusal to comply with the court’s judgment.
Sowore was subsequently released on 24th December 2019.
8. Dunamis Protesters
On Sunday July 4th 2021, six human rights activists who wore BuhariMustGo T-Shirts to Dunamis International Gospel Center in Abuja were arrested by the Church’s security and handed over to operatives of the DSS
After they were charged to court, Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court ordered the SSS to release them, after their lawyer, Tope Temokun filed separate ex-parte applications, which was disregarded.
This contempt for the court order subsequently prompted Amnesty International an international human rights group to ask Buhari to obey the court order and release the protesters.
The protesters were later released on August 4th, after a week of disobeying the court order.
