A constitutional and human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun, has accused President Bola Tinubu of deliberately intimidating the judiciary over the presidential election tribunal.
Ogun was reacting to Tinubu’s speech on Monday, July 12, to mark Nigeria’s Democracy Day celebrations.
The president had said his government wouldn’t tolerate illegal court orders.
The comment sparked outrage among Nigerians, who saw the comment as an affront to another arm of government.
Ogun said:
“Tinubu’s reckless threat to the judiciary is deliberately targeted at the eminent justices of the Presidential Election Tribunal.
“To be clear, any Tribunal order declaring Tinubu’s return invalid cannot “truncate democracy”; it would rather strengthen it.
“Bola Tinubu’s statement is an affront in democracy. It amounts to a subtle attack on the tenets of separation of powers as enshrined under Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the 1999 Constitution.
“Court orders are meant to be obeyed, and the federal government cannot term any of such as “illegal”.
“Saying “illegal” court orders will not be tolerated is an abuse and a calculated attempt by Tinubu to subvert Nigeria’s tottering democracy.”
Ogun stated that the comment by Tinubu signifies his government will not respect court orders, “particularly unfavourable ones they consider illegal.”
