Constitutional order and rule of law at risk of being lost under the Tinubu administration

From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha

Human Rights Activist and Counsel to the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Barr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor has raised the alarm that constitutional order and respect for the Rule of Law is at the risk of being lost completely under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.

Ejiofor who wrote on Friday while reflecting on the statement credited to Vice President Kashim Shettima where he recently revealed how former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) and then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal played pivotal roles from shielding him from an unlawful attempt to remove him as Governor of Borno State by reminding former President Goodluck Jonathan that not even the President had the constitutional authority to remove from office an elected councillor, let alone a sitting governor.

Ejiofor noted that the recollection by VP Shettima is a hark back to a time when constitutionalism, though imperfect, had valiant defenders within the corridors of power, and individuals who, amid immense political pressure, chose to uphold the sanctity of democratic institutions and due process.

He expressed regret that the irony to what is obtainable under the present administration where Shettima serves a Vice President has been so galring.

“Vice President Shettima now serves in an administration widely accused of undermining the very rule of law he once benefited from. A telling case in point is the recent imposition of state of emergency in Rivers state by the Tinubu-led Federal Government , under which Shettima is Vice President, a move widely condemned as a thinly veiled ploy to unseat a democratically elected governor through executive fiat.

“Not only was the Governor of Rivers State unlawfully removed by executive fiat, but the entire democratic institutions and structures in the state, including the duly elected councillors , were effectively dismantled under the administration in which Shettima serves as Vice President. The very constitutional safeguard that once protected Shettima in his hour of need is today being tested, if not altogether disregarded, under the administration he now helps to steer”

“In the current political climate, one must ask: Would a similar principled stand be possible today? Would voices like Adoke’s and Tambuwal’s still echo within the chambers of power, resisting unlawful and anti-democratic pressures? Many Nigerians believe the outcome would be tragically different”

“Can Vice President Shettima, in good conscience, point to contemporary instances under the present administration where power has been restrained for the sake of democratic integrity? Can he truly claim the same fidelity to constitutionalism he once praised?

Ejiofor acknowledged that Nigeria’s democracy is still young, but maintained that its guardians must not selectively interpret or apply its tenets.

“The legacy of defending constitutional order must not be romanticised as a thing of the past, it must be preserved and practised now. Senator Shettima’s words serve both as a powerful reminder of what was once possible and a sobering reflection of what is at risk of being lost” he stated.