Yemisi Izuora
A coalition of twenty six Civil Society Organizations outraged by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike’s Impunity, assault on rule of law and setback to civilisation have called on victims to take legal action to obtain justice.
The Organisations, spread across Nigeria, including the Legal Defence & Assistance Project, LEDAP, Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) and the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC)
noted with utter embarrassment and outrage, the reckless abuse of power by Wike, and his consistent drift towards a full blown dictatorship.
They expressed serious concern that Wike, who is a lawyer, could engage in such series of activities that blatantly subvert due process, undermine the rule of law and negate the norms of civilised and democratic practices.
They accused him of engaging in one act of illegality after another in recent time ranging from the arbitrary arrest of caverton pilots and oil workers, to the closure of State boundaries, to the signing of an executive order authorizing the auction of all vehicles alleged to have violated his lockdown order and now, his most recent reckless act of illegal demolition of two hotels in Rivers State on Saturday, which he personally supervised. They observed that Wike has been rightly described as ‘a colossal embarrassment to the Body of Benchers’ which he belongs to, and they endorsed the call on the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA to sanction him.
“We acknowledge that citizens must comply with orders meant to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and protect citizens and residents of Rivers State.
:We also condemn the violation of such orders by any citizen whatsoever. But we equally assert that two wrongs cannot make a right. A democratically elected governor should rise above arbitrariness and lawlessness.
“The Constitution guarantees citizens the right to own property and this right cannot be circumscribed without following the due process of law. The Rivers State Governor has no legal right in law to confiscate or demolish the property of citizens by executive fiat. ”
They said that rhe governor should not be allowed to continue to violate the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and called on citizens of Rivers State to resist his dictatorship and challenge him through civic and legal means.
“We also call on the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), being the opposition political political party of which Wike is an influential member, to speak up and condemn his excesses or else lose any moral ground to criticise or oppose any act of malfeasance by the ruling All People’s Congress (APC).
“No law permits the Governor or the President to mete out any punishment to any citizen without recourse to the constitution. You cannot go outside the law to enforce the law
“The Executive Order relied upon by Governor Wike is an administrative instrument with guidelines and not a law.
“The Constitution supersedes the Governor’s order.The guidelines and regulations in the Executive Order are subject to the Constitution. So, if there is a conflict in the guidelines, the directives of the Governor and the Constitution, his directives will bow to the Constitution”
The Organisations insisted that any offender regardless of the crime committed should be charged before a Court and tried in line with the law and the Constitution, the supreme law, guarantees every citizen fair hearing, including an armed robber caught in the act
“Anybody who breaches or is accused of breaching any law can only be taken to court, tried and convicted before any sentence can be pronounced against such offender.
“The demolition of the two hotels in Port Harcourt on the orders and supervision of Governor Wike, for purportedly operating against his Covid Executive Orders, is the height of abuse of power. No Constitution allows a Governor to become the maker of a law, accuser, witness, enforcer of the law, the prosecutor and the Judge at the same time. It is primitive.” they noted.
They argued that no matter any offence the owners of the hotel may have committed, the only option available to the Governor was to seal up the premises, pending the trial of the manager of the hotel.
“By whimsically and capriciously supervising the demolition without recourse to due process, the Governor has acted outside the law and beyond his legal authority and has rendered the workers in the hotel jobless, with its effects on their dependants.
If the sprawling arrays of buildings on a large stretch of land along Ada George road are demolished after 2023, how would Wike feel?”
They CSO’s stated that they did not insist on due process because they want to validate any supposed infraction but that people in authority should exercise power and conduct government affairs like people living in a decent and civilised society pointing that if the EFCC had acted in such capricious manner, by convicting Wike without trial, would he have become a Governor today?
“We call on Governor Wike to reverse his lawless and despicable actions, publicly apologise and restore the properties of those that have been destroyed. Everyone will have to go through a judicial process. That is what the rule of law is all about.
“The right to property, fair hearing and liberty are constitutional rights. No Governor has the power to dismiss these rights under the pretext of enforcing the COVID-19 regulations.
“If Wike fails to reverse himself, we encourage the victims of his actions to take legal actions because the Executive Order of the Governor contains no provision permitting the demolition of properties.
Only a court of law can do that and that is after being found guilty. What is done in civilised places is for the Governor to obtain an order of interim forfeiture and then go through a trial.”