Lawyer Slams Tinubu for Threatening Judiciary over Democracy Day Speech
A legal practitioner, Festus Ogun, has condemned a section of the Democracy Day speech delivered by President Bola Tinubu on Monday, where he warned against any attempt to truncate democracy through illegal orders.
Ogun, who is a human rights activist and a managing counsel at Festus Ogun Legal (FOLEGAL), a law firm based in Lagos, said the president’s statement was a “reckless threat” to the judiciary and an affront to the principle of separation of powers.
Ogun believes the president’s statement was “deliberately targeted at the eminent justices of the Presidential Election Tribunal”, who are expected to deliver their judgment on the petition filed by Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging Tinubu’s victory in the February 2023 presidential election.
“To be clear, any Tribunal order declaring Tinubu’s return as invalid cannot ‘truncate democracy’, it would rather strengthen it,” the lawyer argued.
Ogun said such an assertion by the president was “an abuse and a calculated attempt by Tinubu to subvert Nigeria’s tottering democracy”.
“This signifies a government that will not respect court orders, particularly unfavorable ones they consider illegal,” Ogun added.
Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and senator for Lagos West, became Nigeria’s president in 2023 after winning the election under the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC). He is widely credited with transforming Lagos into a commercial hub.
In his Democracy Day speech on Monday, Tinubu said: “It has become imperative to state here that the unnecessary illegal orders used to truncate or abridge democracy will no longer be tolerated,”
He also said: “We will not allow any force, elements or destabilising agents in or outside our country to set our beloved country on fire. We remain resolute in our determination to preserve the unity and stability of our great nation.”
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