SERAP criticises Buhari’s claims of independent judiciary

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has responded to President Muhammadu Buhari over his statement that his administration does not interfere with the work of the judiciary.

This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by the SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, in the wake of Buhari’s interview with Channels TV on Wednesday.

Oluwadare noted that the Buhari administration had continually interfered with the judicial process by its persistent failure to obey several court judgments SERAP obtained.

In the statement, SERAP urged Buhari to show his commitment to judicial independence by immediately directing the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, to enforce the following judgments:

“SERAP v. FGN, Suit No: FHC/CS/964/2016, where Justice Shagari ordered his government to tell Nigerians details of recovered stolen assets to date;

“SERAP v. Minister of Power, Suit No: FHC/L/CS/105/2019, where Justice Chuka Obiozor ordered his government to publish details of payments of billions of naira to corrupt electricity contractors who disappeared with public funds without executing any projects since 1999;

“SERAP v. AGF, Suit No: FHC/IKJ/CS/248/2011, where Justice Mohammed Idris ordered his government to prosecute principal officials and lawmakers suspected of padding and stealing N481 billion from the 2016 budget, and publish a report on alleged 2016 budget padding.

Read also: SERAP charges Buhari to probe alleged mismanagement of security votes by govs since 1999

“SERAP v. FGN, Suit No: FHC/L/CS/1497/2017, where Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo ordered his government to challenge the legality of states’ life pension laws, and recover pensions collected by ex-governors now serving as ministers and members of the National Assembly;

“SERAP v FGN, Suit No: FHC/IKJ/CS/248/2011, where Justice Idris ordered his government to publish details of spending of all recovered stolen funds since 1999 by his government, and those of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan;

“SERAP v. Federal Government, Suit No: ECW/CCJ/APP/10/2020, where the ECOWAS Court of Justice ordered his government to pay a journalist, Agba Jalingo, N30 million, as compensation for ill-treating and torturing him while in detention in Cross River state,” the statement read.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now