Presidential Executive Order Barring Travel by Profiled Nigerians is Unconstitutional, and an Invidious Effort to run a Dictatorship on the back of a Constitutional Democracy – Joseph Otteh
The Federal government has just released a list of fifty Nigerians the government said it was barring from foreign travel, through a Presidential Executive Order (PEO). Comprised in this list are Nigerians (including a deceased person) who are currently facing corruption trials.
While Access to Justice supports efforts to fight corruption in the most vigorous way possible, the PEO is an unconstitutional overreach of the executive powers of government. It usurps legislative and judicial powers, and particularly emasculates the powers of courts to determine cases against those named in the PEO and exercise its’ inherent jurisdiction to control conditions related to how under-trial (accused) persons exercise their rights to liberty and movement.
The PEO is also a gratuitous piece of dangerous precedent that opens the door to an uncontrollable dictatorship; it can be used arbitrarily and vindictively to fight and muzzle political opposition, and promote wholly politically partisan objectives. It is unquestionably anti-democratic and a veiled snare for citizens’ rights. It is also legally warrantless; the government claims the judgment of Hon. Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu on the case involving PEO 6, gives it authority to bar the named persons. This is so very untrue: the judgment clearly required the government to implement PEO 6 in a way that is consistent with the rule of law; the court ruled that the government (Attorney General) could not block, freeze or confiscate any funds or assets without an order of court! If the government cannot take property without an order of court, how could it legitimately bar persons (presumed innocent by the law), from exercising their rights to liberty and movement without an order of court?
Access to Justice requests the federal government to immediately rescind this obnoxious Executive Order. In its stead, we ask for Presidential Executive Orders that mandate all persons and authorities, in line with the Constitution, to obey all orders and judgments of courts immediately, release all persons ordered by courts to be set free, as well as pay reasonable living (minimum) wages to all workers!
Joseph Otteh, Director
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