Festus Ogun, a lawyer, has criticised a portion of President Bola Tinubu’s Monday speech for Democracy Day.
In his nationwide broadcast, Tinubu declared, “It has become vital to emphasise here that the unnecessary illegal directives used to truncate or abridge democracy will no longer be permitted.”
The Nigerian leader “threatened” the courts in reaction, the human rights activist said, announcing that intimidation of judges would not be permitted.
The outstanding justices of the Presidential Election Tribunal, in Ogun’s opinion, are the focus of the president’s “reckless threat to the judiciary.”
To be clear, the lawyer asserted that any Tribunal decision finding Tinubu’s return unlawful might not “truncate democracy,” but rather strengthen it.
He claimed that Tinubu’s remarks were “an affront to democracy” and a “subtle attack on the principles of separation of powers as embodied in Sections 4, 5, and 6 of the 1999 Constitution.”
Festus Ogun Legal’s Senior Partner emphasised that court rulings should not be viewed as “illegal” and should instead be followed.
He claims that such a claim is “an insult and a planned attempt by Tinubu to undermine Nigeria’s shaky democracy.”
Ogun continued, “This shows a government that would not obey court rulings, especially unfavourable ones that they view as illegitimate.
