A democracy inclined non-governmental organization- HUMAN
RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIAITON OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has applauded the Federal Attorney
General and minister of Justice Mr. Bello Mohammed Adoke (SAN) for his timely and
rightful intervention to give effect to the enforcement of a subsisting Appeal
court Judgment restoring the sacked local council executives in Imo State.
The group also strongly condemned the failure of the Imo
State government to comply with the judgment and faulted Governor Rochas
Okorocha’s claim that his administration will only comply with a legal decision
in the subject matter only if the Supreme Court determines it to its finality. “Governor
Okoroacha should go to equity with clean hands by first respecting a binding
judgment of a competent court until it is otherwise decided by a higher court
of competent jurisdiction in compliance with section 6 of the 1999 constitution
as amended”, HURIWA affirmed.
In a statement jointly endorsed by the National Coordinator
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National media officer Miss. Zainab Yusuf,
the Non-Governmental group said the directive by the Federal Attorney General and
minister of Justice for the immediate enforcement of the Appellate court’s
verdict was the best pragmatic way to preserve, promote and protect the respect
of the legal principle of the Rule of law and constitutionalism because allowing
the Imo State government to flagrantly disrespect a binding judgment of a
competent court of law would have amounted to the institutionalization of
anarchy and impunity.
HURIWA stated thus; “We are absolutely short of words to
appropriately describe the decision of the Imo State governor to openly disrespect
a subsisting and legally binding judgment of a competent court of law when as
an elected leader he swore to abide by the provisions of the constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We are even more shocked because the current
Imo state Governor secured the validation of his electoral victory in the
competent court of law when he was assailed by torrents of legal challenges by
his political opponents who lost woefully during the 2011 general elections”.
Specifically, the Federal Attorney General and minister of
Justice Mr. Bello Mohammed Adoke (SAN) had ordered the reinstatement of the sacked
chairmen, who were elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) under the administration of former governor Ikedi Ohakim.
The four paragraph press statement read: “The attention of
the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has
been drawn to the lingering controversy that has trailed the judgment of the
Court of Appeal, Owerri Judicial Division in Appeal No. CA/OW/215/2011, Enyinna
Onuegbu & 26 Others versus Attorney General of Imo State & 3 others
dated 5th July 2012, which declared as illegal and unconstitutional, the action
of the governor of Imo State, purporting to dissolve the democratically elected
local government councils in the state before the expiration of their constitutionally
guaranteed tenure”.
HURIWA therefore fully endorsed the action of the law
enforcement authority to lawfully enforce the decision of the Court of Appeal,
Owerri Division even as it asserted that if Nigeria was properly run as a
functional constitutional democracy, the law enforcement operatives do not need
to wait for a directive of the nation’s chief law officer to implement a
binding decision of a competent court of law which was fully communicated to
them by the appropriate court officials.
19/7/2012
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