(Onitsha Nigeria, 30th of May
2016)-The Government of Gen Muhammadu Buhari has clocked one year in office
having being sworn in on 29th of May 2015; and the leadership of International
Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety) has identified at least 125 Constitutional Breaches & Regime
Atrocities committed by the hostile administration in the past 365 days or one year.
The breaches and atrocities covered the process through which the
administration was brought to civilian presidency to its policies and conducts
in the past 365 days or one year. This simply means that in each of the past 12
months, the administration of Gen Muhammadu Buhari committed at least ten constitutional breaches and regime
atrocities against Nigerians and the 1999 Constitution. The constitutional
breaches and regime atrocities are numbered and summarized below:
Electoral Roguery & Breaches That
Produced Buhari’s Presidency: 1.Gross manipulation (i.e. hoarding,
defacing, diversion, destruction and non-production) of issuance and
distribution of permanent voters cards with gross numerical disparity designed
to favour north against the south leading to highly divisive presidential poll
that brought the regime to power. 2.
Deliberate and scientific exclusion from
voting of 12 million registered voters dominated by southern and northern
minority populations designed to produce Buhari’s Presidency at all costs,
leading to its highly divisive emergence. 3. Creation of mobile voting centers
for Muslim IDPs and refusal to make same or similar arrangements for IDPs of
Southeast and minority nationalities’ extraction such as through voters’ cards’
transfer provided in the Electoral Act of 2010. 4. Exclusion through stringent
voter registration conditions during voters’ registration exercises of at least
20 million Nigerians of voting age dominated by southerners and other minority
nationalities.
5. Introduction of mal-functional card readers
contrary to the Electoral Act of 2010 designed to further shut out and weaken
southern voting population. 6. Massive deployment and use of millions of
under-age voters in the north designed to shore up northern Muslim voting
population during the referenced controversial polls. 7. Demographic and
scientific manipulation of the 2015 presidential poll as opposed to all
inclusive polls befitting a pluralistic and multicultural democratic society
like Nigeria. 8. Resurgence through deliberate official (INEC) policies and
actions of ethnic, religious and political divisions in the 2015 presidential
poll and deepening of same through policies and actions by the Buhari’s
Presidency. 9.
Improper composition of the statutory board of INEC. 10. Non conduct and conclusion of outstanding
parliamentary rerun polls across the country particularly in the opposition
strongholds of the Southeast and South-south regions, over 12 months after the
conduct of the country’s main polls and with particular reference to Senatorial
vacancies in Anambra Central, Imo North, Kogi East and three Senatorial seats
in Rivers State; nine House of Reps seats in Rivers State, two State Assembly
seats in Imo State and a number of others elsewhere.
11. INEC’s whimsical and capricious refusal to
perform its constitutional duties by conducting and concluding the said rerun
polls, owing to its suspected parasitic control by the APC led Federal
Government. 12. INEC’s deliberate refusal to revalidate and embark on
continuous registration and issuance of permanent voters’ cards to all eligible
Nigerian voters of all ethno-religious and gender backgrounds. 13. Retention by
the Commission of the policy of empowering all eligible Muslim adults with
voters’ cards and disempowering of their non Muslim counterparts with acutely
disproportionate number of voters’ cards. 14. The refusal by the Commission to
de-register millions of underage voters it criminally registered in the core
north during the last general polls for the purpose of producing the Buhari’s
Presidency at all costs. 15. Growing incompetence and incapacity of INEC to
rise to its constitutional responsibilities and the possibility of the
Commission scuttling electoral process and collapsing democracy in Nigeria.
Political Crime/Structural Terrorism: 16.
Emergence of perceived arch proponent of ethno-religious divisions and animosity
as Nigeria’s President. 17. Resurgence and deepening of ethno-religious
divisions and animosities in the country; following divisive and segregated
policies and conducts of the Buhari administration since assumption of office
in late May 2015. 18. Disregard with reckless abandon and abuse of the
provisions of the 1999 Constitution as well as the principles of the rule of law.
19. Massive deployment and reckless use of State coercive establishments
particularly the DSS to haunt, hurt and harm vocal citizens and members of the nonviolent
opposition contrary to their constitutional rights to freedom of expression,
peaceful assembly, personal liberty and movement. 20. Promotion and institutionalization
of government of vendetta or vindictiveness in the past 365 days. 21.
Deployment and use of deadly or excessive State force or violence in response
to the ventilated angers of the civil populace concerning regime decadence,
anomalies and failures. 22. Spiral increase in citizens’ insecurity and other
unsafe conditions occasioned by regime incompetence, incapacity and violent
approaches to issues and challenges of public governance. 23. Vicariously and personally
responsible for the regime murder of over 1000 nonviolent and unarmed citizens
in the past 365 days. 24. Proxy killing of over 1000 nonviolent and unarmed
citizens using the Fulani Janjaweed.25. Killing of over 3000 citizens by
violent non-State entities like Boko Haram and Fulani insurgents occasioned by
regime incompetence and incapacity. 26. Promotion and running of governance policies
of exclusion, segregation and sectional domination.
Corruption
Of Anti Corruption: 27. Promotion through nepotism and favoritism of
corruption and abuse of office contrary to Section 15 (5) of the 1999
Constitution (abolition of State corrupt practices and abuse of office).28.
Manipulation and bastardization of the anti corruption policy whereby only
members of the opposition are labeled corrupt or charged for corruption whereas
morally dirty and indicted members of the ruling party including those that
funded the election campaigns of the Buhari’s Presidency are shielded or
protected.29.
Masquerading anti corruption campaign and using same to seek
international attention and support. 30. Rampancy of corruption and other
corrupt practices in most, if not all federal public institutions including the
Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Custom Service by way of open extortion,
bribery, kick-backs, contract inflation, over-invoicing, favouritism, nepotism,
etc. 31. Using corruption to fight corruption and mainstreaming fake anti corruption
for the purpose of confusing Nigerians and misleading the international
community.
32. Promotion and encouragement of all dimensions
of corruption: morale corruption, political corruption, economic corruption,
institutional or bureaucratic corruption and statutory corruption. 33. Massive
deployment of State propaganda and falsehood to further deceive and mislead the
populace and the international community concerning the true state of the
regime’s so called “anti corruption campaign”. 34. Bandying of non-existent
figures or amounts in billions of dollars as looted funds recovered so far from
“the looters” when little or nothing has been practically recovered. 35.
Corrupting Nigerians and the international community with non-existent amounts
in billions of dollars as “saved amounts” from TSA, ghost workers, etc; whereas
loans amounting to billions of dollars are still being sourced from right, left
and center.
Bastardization
Of Secularity Status & Federal Character Principle: 36.Gross violation
of constitutional provisions of fair and non-dominant geopolitical distribution
of public office appointments and resources. 37. Unconstitutional concentration
of 99% of top security and civil appointments in the Northwest, Northeast and
the North-central zones with the Northwest and the Northeast geopolitical zones
of the country taking 80%. 38. Near-total and vindictive exclusion of the
people of the Southeast zone in federal governance policies and actions in the
past 365 days. 39. Steadily threatening of the secular and pluralistic composition
of Nigeria through segregated and exclusionist policies, actions and
utterances. 40.
Gross violation of non-State religion provision in Section 10
of the 1999 Constitution. 41. Promotion of Northernization and Islamization
agendas to the national policy and interest and adoption of Boko Haram’s
Islamization and conquest agenda as new integrated national governance policy.
41. Adoption of “Miyatti Allah” livestock policy as a national policy leading
to executive nationalization of Fulani Animal Husbandry. 42. Unconstitutional
and undemocratic presidential policy and directive for filling of all top
federal establishments vacancies with northern Muslim citizens in line with
northern Islamization agenda and without recourse to constitutionalism and
pluralistic composition of Nigeria.
Gross
Disrespect To Rule Of Law & Constitutional Liberties: 43. Steady
suppression of socially cohesive voices or forces and promotion of divisive
forces in Nigeria.
44. Promotion of triggers of constitutional dictatorship and muzzling of opposition forces.
45. Quieting and silencing of former mainstream, independent and credible rights based civil society organizations in the Southwest region.46. Disruption of the unity of the organized labour bodies in Nigeria and infiltration of their ranks and hijacking of their leaderships with government moles and apologists. 47. Gross disrespect to the principles of the rule of law particularly fair hearing and fair trial. 48. Gross breaches of the fundamental provisions of the 1999 Constitution including its fundamental human rights and custodial liberties. 49.
44. Promotion of triggers of constitutional dictatorship and muzzling of opposition forces.
45. Quieting and silencing of former mainstream, independent and credible rights based civil society organizations in the Southwest region.46. Disruption of the unity of the organized labour bodies in Nigeria and infiltration of their ranks and hijacking of their leaderships with government moles and apologists. 47. Gross disrespect to the principles of the rule of law particularly fair hearing and fair trial. 48. Gross breaches of the fundamental provisions of the 1999 Constitution including its fundamental human rights and custodial liberties. 49.
Detention of citizens over alleged corruption and
political crimes far above periods constitutionally allowed. 50. Denial of
detained citizens of their rights to legal representation and judicial bails.
51. Threatening lawyers who offer to defend the accused citizens and cooking up
trumped up charges against them. 52. Blackmailing the judiciary as being
“uncooperative” in the so called “fight against corruption” and stampeding and
threatening its constitutional independence. 53. Threatening judges and forcing
them to make judicial pronouncements against those the State tags “State
enemies”.
54. Using
the anti graft agencies to threaten judges who go against the State interest
knowing fully that most, if not all public office holders in Nigeria including
the Presidency live far above their statutory emoluments through bureaucratic
corruption and other corrupt practices.55.Indiscriminate and reckless
presidential utterances considered hostile and prejudicial to fair hearing and
fair trial for those facing court trials and bails.
Gross
Administrative Misconducts: 56. Running the federal government without a
Federal Executive Council or Government or Council of Ministers for 150 days or
five months (May 29 to October 29, 2015).57. Grounding of major government
activities or businesses to a halt for 150 days owing to absence of Federal
Executive Council. 58. Making appointments into constitutionally and
statutorily created federal executive bodies and offices in manners clearly
incoherent with and unknown to the 1999 Constitution and the Civil Service
Rules of the Federation.
59.Grossly breaching the Federal Character
Principles in making such appointments.60. Running, some say, a “Tinubu/Miyatti
Allah” oligarchic government as opposed to presidential democracy founded on
constitutionalism and pluralistic democracy.61. Gross bastardization and
corruption of constitutional democracy and democratic pluralism.62.Relegation
of the 1999 Constitution to the background and governing the Federal Republic
of Nigeria with “party supremacy and personal initiatives”.63.Promotion of
parliamentary parasitism.64.Non recourse to parliamentarianism in matters of
sensitive multilateral and bilateral importance
65.Forming a government cabinet dominated by “the profiteers of the Nigerian woes of the recent past” and failed public office administrators.
65.Forming a government cabinet dominated by “the profiteers of the Nigerian woes of the recent past” and failed public office administrators.
Economic Policy Blunders & Failures:
.66 Grounding Nigerian economy to a total halt following 150 days without
government or ministerial cabinet. 67. Grounding to a halt for 150 days of
major activities of all federal educational institutions including all federal
universities, colleges of education, polytechnics, special schools as well as
newly established federal universities, owing to none release of statutory
funds for 150 days. 68. Zero awards of public interest projects in the areas of
roads, education, health, rail, aviation, water, agriculture, etc following the
absence of government or ministerial cabinet for 150 days. 69.
Suspension or
stalling till date of public interest projects awarded by the past
administration (i.e. 2nd Niger Bridge Project).70. Abandonment for 150 days of
maintenance policy implementation on key public infrastructures like roads, etc
leading to their gross decay resulting in untold hardships experienced by the
masses. 71. Collection from the Federation Account of at least N900Billion
($4.5 Billion) as the Federal Government share of the federal revenues for 150
days or five months without a Federal Executive Council or Cabinet.
72. Absence of clearly defined economic policy
direction for Nigeria that is tailored in international best standards as well
as continued leprous reliance on crude oil or petrol dollar economy.73.
Introduction of deliberate and harmful fiscal policy till date aimed at
crashing and crushing trade and commerce in which the Igbos who control at
least 60% of same are the sole target.74. Promotion and proliferation of hard
currency black markets and hard currency smuggling cartels following ban placed
on international currency exchanges by commercial banks, etc.75. Resurgence and
proliferation of illicit or black market mobile hard currency trade dominated
by Hausa couriers as was the case in 80s and 90s during the military era.
76. Composition of a federal governance cabinet
of bread and butter in place of a government of soil and oil. 77. Retention of
reckless public borrowing and high public governance cost policies that
darkened the administration of the Goodluck Jonathan and grossly impoverished
Nigeria and Nigerians.78. Seventy-percent (70%) official devaluation of the
local currency from the Jonathan era rate of N155 per $US to the present N250
per $US. 79.One hundred & twenty-percent (120%) of unofficial devaluation
of the local currency from the Jonathan era-N160.00-N170.00 per $US to the present
N350.00 –N360.00 per $US. 80.
Sixty-percent (60%) fuel price increase from the
Jonathan era N97.00 per litre to the present N145.00 per litre.81. Hyper
inflation and quadruple increases in prices of food stuffs and domestic
appliances and other industrial uses.82.Similiar price increases in automobiles
and their accessories and all industrial materials, health products, etc. 83.Near-total
abandonment of awards, construction, maintenance and expansion of capital
projects in Nigeria since late May 2015.
84.Over reliance till date on imported goods and
services to the tune of 95% or more. 85. Zero industrial outputs and
non-industrialization of Nigeria’s 33 solid mineral deposits. 86. Reckless
borrowings from local and international sources and their channelization into
recurrent and non productive sectors. 87. Retention of astronomical costs of
governance especially in the areas of office holders’ allowances and overheads.
88.
Drawing and drying of Nigeria’s scarce resources using “monthly security
votes”, office overheads, bloated allowances and cabinet sizes and nepotistic
projects. 89. Rampancy of bureaucratic corruption in government institutions
and businesses.90. Sorry state and irreparable dilapidation of public
infrastructures maintained by Federal Government. 91. Horrible state of Federal
roads, railway and airports in Nigeria particularly in the Southeast. 92.Absence
of revolutionary industrial policy or policy direction for Nigeria compounded
by incurable energy sector crisis in the country.
D. Judicial Interference & Threats To
Rule Of Law: 93. Continued domination of federal judiciary by northern
Muslims (I.e. Chief Justice of Nigeria, President of the Court of Appeal, Chief
Judge of the Federal High Court, etc).94. Gross executive interference in the
affairs of the judiciary particularly by the President’s use of DSS to invite,
quiz, intimidate, harass and threaten judges handling high profile cases
including election petition cases (i.e. case of Hon Justice Pindigi over River
State Governorship matter).95.
Gross and reckless executive interference using
DSS and Police in the judicial proceedings and non criminal administrative
conducts (i.e. recent ordeal of some INEC officials in the hands of the DSS in
Akwa Ibom and Rivers States gubernatorial poll cases).96. Executive
interference and influencing of electoral court proceedings and judgments using
DSS (i.e. Hon Justice Pindigi’s public account on how he was threatened,
intimidated, harassed and invited for a nocturnal meeting in Kaduna State by
the DSS with intent to be bribed).
97.Use of judiciary by the executive as an
instrument of vendetta and intimidation against members of the opposition and
dissenting community.98. Use of judiciary to perpetrate and perpetuate long
detention without bail of the vocal
citizens (i.e. continued detention of Citizens Nnamdi Kanu, Sambo Dasuki,
Ibrahim Zaky El-Zaki, etc). 99. Use of judiciary to effect extra judicial and
pre-trial detention of citizens merely accused of bureaucratic corruption,
leading to them detained far above periods constitutionally allowed; in
bailable misdemeanour matters.
100. Use of constitutionally incoherent penal
laws to judicially threaten and intimidate dissenting citizens for the purpose
of their custodial arrest, detention, torture and dumping in awaiting trial or
criminal incarceration.101. Re-introduction through backdoor of Decrees No. 2
and No. 4 of 1984 by presidentially detaining citizens outside the provisions and
processes of the 1999 Constitution.
Insecurity & Other Unsafe Conditions:
102. Death of over 4000 citizens in the hands of the Federal Government, the Islamist
Boko Haram and the Fulani insurgents in the past 365 days.
103. Continued adoption of counter terror and insurgency measures that are incoherent with modern intra State counter violence methods leading to gross breaches of human rights and the Geneva Conventions of 1949.104. Retention of the out-fashioned and out-dated national policy on security adopted in 1979 or 37 years ago.105. Feeling and perception of insecurity by most, if not all Nigerians occasioned by woeful failure of the present Buhari administration to rise to its constitutional securitization responsibilities as contained in Section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution (duty of the State to ensure at all times citizens security and welfare).106. Failure to protect, safeguard and preserve Nigeria’s oil facilities occasioned by the government militant and hostile policies and failed security intelligence networks.
107.Over reliance on AK-47 driven securitization
and promotion of failed security intelligence.
108. Gross failure of the Nigeria Police with its large numerical strength and huge public costs to effectively take charge of the country’s internal security owing to obsolete policing and rapacious corruption.109.Concentration of the country’s security policy planning and enforcement on gun culture and militancy approaches and gross failure to civilianize policing security through the all inclusive concept of human security formulated by UNDP for municipal use in 1994.110.
108. Gross failure of the Nigeria Police with its large numerical strength and huge public costs to effectively take charge of the country’s internal security owing to obsolete policing and rapacious corruption.109.Concentration of the country’s security policy planning and enforcement on gun culture and militancy approaches and gross failure to civilianize policing security through the all inclusive concept of human security formulated by UNDP for municipal use in 1994.110.
Total exclusion of the Southeast zone from the membership of Service
Chiefs and steady promotion of triggers of a divided society and laying of
landmines for sectional animosities capable of snowballing into regional
tensions and violent conflicts of unquenchable magnitudes. 111.Promotion of
favouritism and nepotism in the country’s security industry and elimination of
merit and integrity. 112. Promotion of ethnic cleansing against the Igbo Ethnic
Nationality in the Nigeria Police Force and other strategic securitization
bodies whereby in few years to come, no officer of the Southeast extraction
will occupy the rank and position of Commissioner of Police, Assistant
Inspector General of Police, Deputy Inspector General of Police or Inspector
General of Police.
113. Promotion of ethnic and religious divisions
and tensions across the country. 114. Promotion of militancy and gun culture at
communal, tribal, inter-group and inter-personal levels.115. Promotion of
governance hostility, intolerance and confrontational approaches to governance
issues and challenges. 116. Forcing the citizens to resort to self-help and
self-arming to safeguard their lives, liberties, interests, cultural norms and
values considered threatened by the present Federal Government and its proxy
violent entities.117.
Steady flooding of Nigeria with small arms and light
weapons occasioned by government combatant approaches and threats to ethnic
existence and identies.118. Acute absence of Human Security, comprising
food security, health security, environmental security, community or communal
security, physical security, economic security and political security. 119.
High rates of unemployment and under-employment.120. Spiral increase in social
deviance and code crimes occasioned by regime and governance failures.
Fundamental
Breaches Of International Obligations: 121.Gross violation of Nigeria’s
regional obligations like African Charter on Human & Peoples Rights of 1981.
122. Breach of Nigeria’s international obligations like International Covenants
on Civil & Political Rights, Economic, Social & Cultural Rights,
Convention Against Torture, Child Rights Convention, etc. 123. Breach of
Nigeria’s international customary obligations like the International Customary
Laws and the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations. 124. Breach of
Nigeria’s international humanitarian obligations like the Geneva Conventions of
1949 and their Protocols. 125. Failure by the Presidency and the National
Assembly to domestic outstanding strategic international rights and
humanitarian treaties in accordance with Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution.
Signed:
For:
International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
Emeka
Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
Mobile
Line: +2348174090052
Barr
Obianuju Igboeli, Head, Civil Liberties & Rule of Law Program
Mobile
Line: +2348034186332
Barr
Chinwe Umeche, Head, Democracy & Good Governance Program
Mobile
Line: +2347013238673
Website:
www.intersociety-ng.org
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