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By Joel Anekwe
Some Port Harcourt-based legal practitioners have condemned the recent issuing of Executive Order (EO6) by President Muhammad Buhari, and the consequent travel ban placed on some 50 high profile Nigerians, describing this as illegal and unconstitutional.
The President Buhari-led APC Federal Government, capitalising on a judgement by the Abuja High Court, announced the executive order which placed 50 Nigerians being tried on corruption charges on travel ban pending the determination of their cases.
But some legal luminaries in Port Harcourt have taken a swipe on the order saying it is tantamount to usurping the authorities of the court.
Making his position known, Ken Alen Wokoma a social rights advocate based in Port Harcourt described the order as illegal and unconstitutional, saying that the executive could not usurp the role of the judiciary.
According to him; “the travel ban made by the President pursuant to the Executive Order 6 (EO6) is not only illegal, it is unconstitutional. The constitution guarantees the rights of freedom of movement, it also gives conditions under which such rights can be curtailed. On these persons who are alleged to have committed crime of corruption, the constitution is in their favour.”
He further argued: “The President cannot be acting the role of the judicial segment of the government. The principles of separation of powers must be respect.”
He added that the order also breaches international instruments to which the country is signatory, nothing that the fight against corruption must be waged under the ambits of the law.
“The International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, Article 12 thereof, expressly stated that a person is free to migrate even outside of his own country to any other country and Nigeria is signatory to that convention and it has also been domesticated,” Wokoma stated.
He stressed: “I don’t support any corrupt act, I don’t also support corrupt persons because we all know that it is inimical to the growth of the country. But if we must fight corruption it must be fought within the ambit of the law.”
On his part, Legi Agbaraje said Nigerians are now living in fear of what the intention of the President is, expressing worry that with the military background of the President, Nigerians should be concerned about the fate of the country’s democracy.
He said: “We are no longer comfortable, legally speaking. How can you, an executive, sit to say you want to implement a policy, not law? It makes Nigerians to be afraid of what the current administration wants to achieve because where an executive order as we are seeing it now seeks to confiscate assets suspected to have criminal origin and it now says those assets are supposed to be seized pending trial, pre-trial seizure of property without an order of the court, then it’s taking us back to the days of military rule of decrees.”
He explained that the EO cannot override the constitution and extant laws of the country as according to him the order is only a policy.
“I will urge Nigerians, those who are concerned like me, let us test this thing in the Appeal Court so that we really know the intentions of this EO, so that it does not bring about dark days in our democracy. The government, especially the executive is there to enforce the law, not formulating policies in the guise of law making. As far as am concerned that executive order is just a policy of government. It is not a law so am joining other well-meaning Nigerians and legal minds to say that that order is unconstitutional and needs to be tested further even up to the Supreme Court,” Agbaraje stated.
Also speaking, Chiemenem Wordi of the Appraisal for Good Governance, a civil society organization, alleged that the President was arrogating to himself the powers of the court. He said that the attorney general of the federation should have advised the President against the order.
“I begin to ask why the power of the court should be usurped. If you look at the fundamental human rights, and by virtue of section 1 of the 1999 Constitution you will see that the constitution is supreme and by the principles of constitution and constitutionalism I think that Mr. President is not above the law. This is not the era you begin to tell anybody not to move out. It is the duty and the rights of law to do so,” Wordi said.
He said he saw the President’s action as an attempt to frustrate the court processes in the country as according to him suspects are now condemned before the commencement of court proceedings.
He declared: “As far as am concerned what they have done with that EO is to frustrate court processes in Nigeria because it means that if one is alleged to be a criminal, for him to even go to court you have already condemned him.”
