Lawyers charge Buhari to work on his campaign promises

President Muhammadu Buhari last week assigned his ministers to the various ministries and charged them to assist him in making life better for the generality of Nigerians in his second and final lap of governance. 

Lawyers 

And as the ministers settle down for business, lawyers in the country have demanded an improvement in governance in President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term. 

Reviewing the performance of his administration in his first four years as a democratically elected president especially on his three-point agenda of security, economy and fight against corruption, the lawyers who spoke with Saturday Vanguard concluded that the president has not met his campaign promises to Nigerians in his first term.

According to them, his administration lacked the proper understanding of the solutions to the problems in the country as his policies have failed. They urged him to reconsider his administration’s strategies on issues of security, the economy and the fight against corruption while advising him to be mindful of the verdict of history in the evening of his tenure. 

Nigerians are disenchanted—Jideobi Johnmary 

While appraising President Buhari’s achievements in his first term, a constitutional lawyer, Mr. Jideobi Johnmary, said: “On security, in assessing the performance of the President, we have to remind ourselves that the primary duty of any government is security of lives and property of the citizens. 

Talking about the performance of the government of the day on security, I am sure an average Nigerian of uncommitted mind would readily point out that the country appears to have come under siege laid by different shades of criminal elements across the entire federation.

 

Comparing how safe we felt before the advent of this government and how safe we feel today as a nation would provide the best yardstick for determining President Buhari’s record on security of the nation. “You may also want to add the recent report of the United kingdom warning its citizens to steer clear of over twenty states in Nigeria as being unsafe. Whatever that adds up to leaves you with the answer. On economy, we have been classified as the poverty capital of the world. That ranking was neither done by the PDP nor the APC but rather by uncommitted minds looking at the global economic picture. 

Yet again, it is for Nigerians to compare and contrast how challenging or otherwise their lives were economically before the advent of this government and what they experience now. You know the answer. 

It is staring all of us in the face. Interestingly, the situation is incapable of separating the APC members and the PDP members in the spread of its consequences. On the fight against corruption, we all have seen how far we have come with the said fight and what the gains are if any. Speaking for myself, corruption cannot be successfully fought through a corrupt means. 

By that what do I mean? Let me explain. 

When the war against corruption is waged outside the ambit of the Rule of Law the result becomes counter productive and less beneficial to the society. In any event, where is the transparency in the process and the outcome of the war? 

Can any of the prosecutorial agencies present an accurate account of all the recoveries made in the past years? 

They are fighting the said war on behalf of all Nigerians and to that extent they are our trustees and we are taught in law that the first duty of every trustee is to stand ready with his account. 

Can Magu sitting at the EFCC show you how much has been recovered and from whom when you request him to? 

Can the Federal Ministry of Justice do the same? There is therefore a huge legitimacy question on the manner adopted in prosecuting the said anti-corruption war and there is a huge question of transparency and accountability regarding the outcome of the whole process. 

 

It raises the question; who guards the guard? 

All these negative signs combine to make discerning citizens disenchanted about the whole anti-corruption war which is incapable of commanding confidence from those who know. President Buhari is thereby called upon to reflect soberly on all these and think more of the verdict of history as he is facing the exit route of presidential power. 

He must now decisively axe all the transactional elements holding forth in different government agencies if he is indeed mindful of the verdict of history in the evening of his tenure. The time for him to act is now”.