Speaker of the House of Representatives Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal yesterday rated President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration as the worst as regards respect for the rule of law in the country.
Speaking as a guest speaker in Kano at the 30th Annual Memorial Lecture in honour of late political sage Malam Aminu Kano, the speaker said “the period between 1999 and 2007 which covered the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo has been described as the worst when it comes to compliance with the rule of law”.
He spoke on ‘The Rule of Law as Fundamental Condition for Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria’.
“Although some institutional and administrative principles and agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were upheld and established to check corruption and the principle of due process was adopted to safeguard public trust and accountability in the award of contracts and other related public procurements as well as consistent and persistent proclamation of the independence of the judiciary, the score card of the first four years of Nigeria’s democracy was spotted with executive arbitrariness. The mass killings of innocent civilians in what are known as Zaki Biam and Odi massacres were sore points of human rights abuse during the period”, he said.
Judiciary, according to him, has “suffered tremendously in the hands of the executive as a result of disrespect of court orders, rulings and injunctions while “the legislature could be characterized as the battle ground for the enforcement of due process in its relationship with the executive”.
Tambuwal, however, said Nigeria still has the prospect of “joining the list of great dynamic democracies of the world where laws are judiciously respected and leaders and their followers imbibe the culture of tolerance, accommodation, consensus, selflessness, objectivity, and integrity, economic and political relations since Nigeria is still learning the ropes of democracy”.
In his remarks, Kano deputy governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who represented Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, lamented that the present set of political leaders are only playing to the gallery, saying that it was unethical for public servants to for instance use public funds to sponsor thousands of cronies to hajj at the expense of important programs like education.
Elder statesman Alhaji Magaji Dambatta called on public officers to always try to emulate the virtues of the late Malam Aminu Kano.