Buhari government full of tyranny —Yoruba group

The Yoruba Summit Group (YSG), on Sunday condemned President Muhammadu Buhari and his government over what it described as consistent disrespect of the judiciary.

The group said the administration was now known for persistent disobedience of court orders.

Referring to the Department of State Services (DSS)’s refusal to release the convener of Revolution now, Omoyele Sowore, despite a court order, the group said the Buhari administration had defied the order of a competent court of jurisdiction.

It also said that the recent snubbing of court order was consistent with the administration’s emerging culture of arbitrariness and subversion of the rule of law as demonstrated in the cases of former National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki, (rtd) and leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim El ZakZaky, which formed part of the script of intimidation.

The group spoke in a press statement signed by its Chairman and Publicity Secretary, Dr. Olufemi Adegoke and Gboyega Adejumo.

“This is a dangerous affront to constitutional order and a contemptuous defiance of the rule of law.
“Sowore has been charged with some offences. He should be allowed to have his day in court, without any abridgment of his constitutional right to liberty.

“We note, with regret, that unlawful curtailment of personal liberties, as a weapon of repression, has been the handy tactics of the Buhari’s administration to suppress legitimate dissent. This constitutes an existential danger to the polity and a systematic erosion of democratic rights. We condemn this dangerous trend, and direct that Omoyele Sowore should be released forthwith, and have his liberty restored to answer the spurious charges preferred against him,” the group said.

Read also: Buhari reveals why he refused to hand over to Osinbajo during April trip

Going further the group added:

“We watch as full blown tyranny is unleashed on our nation as if we never left the obnoxious military rules of 1983 up to the jackboot rule of the Abacha days… And we are saddened.

“We are also saddled with the task of ensuring the adherence to democratic tendencies, lest the inevitable combustion that follows each and every tyrannical rule, here and elsewhere, happen also, to this Republic!

“We also watch as the BBC took on the attorney general to task over Sowore charges. The whole world watched as The BBC asked the attorney general some salient questions and it is disturbing to watch him prevaricate, unable to respond to questions about his employer’s previous use of the word “Revolution” as well as his employer’s previous use of force to come into power.

“Sowore’s request for revolution via placards and posts and the absurdity of charging an individual for insulting the president are simply incongruities, laughable and derisory.

“Our dear nation should be spared further embarrassing moments by allowing reasoning and reckoning to be the guide of the Buhari’s administration rather than the brute and fury we are persistently subjected to by the continued disobedience of the Buhari’s administration to the principles governing both the rule of law and the ideals of separation of powers. The very pillars of Sanctity and Sanity, upon which democracy can be said to be present in a democratic polity,” the YSG said.

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