The Executive Director of Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER) Frank Tietie has accused Bola Ahmed Tinubu of not disobeying the Laws in the manner he removed the former governor of the CBN and also the former deputy governors of CBN, as well as the appointment of their replacement.
On Friday 15th of September, Tinubu appointed Dr. Olayemi Michael Cordoso as the New CBN Governor, pending approval of the Senate. The former CBN Governor was suspended since June, who since then has been arrested by the DSS.
In addition, four other names have been put forward by Tinubu to the Senate as he plans to replace the deputy governor positions. Mrs. Emem Nnana Usoro, Mr. Muhammad Sabi Abdullahi Dattijo, Mr. Philip Ikeazor, and Mr. Bola M. Bello are the names put forward to the Senate, awaiting confirmation.
Tietie claimed that there’s no contrate proof to justify that Tinubu sought the approval of the Senate as written in the CBN Act and many other relevant laws, before removing Emefiele unlawfully.
Tietie describes the whole process as “a constitutional error”.
According to him, he said “The recently announced removal of the embattled Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, and the deputy governors of the bank by the fiat of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not in Compliance with the provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act,2007 and there fire it is illegal”
“Whereas section 11 of the CBN Act provides for several grounds for the removal of the CBN Governor or deputy governors. Such removal is based on the decision of the President as in this reported case of Emefiele and his deputies. It can only have an effect where the president has first sought and obtained the approval of a two-third senate majority”.
Tietie further explained that Bola Tinubu acted without following the procedures which may have been a stain on the Law. He said, “ Clearly, there is no evidence that the president indeed sought and obtained the required two-thirds majority of the Nigerian senate before announcing the formal removal of Governor Emefiele with his deputies and the appointment of a new Governor of the CBN”.
“Consequently, the president is in error and all his recent actions in removal and appointment of a governor of CNB can be set aside by the Courts”.
Tietie acknowledged the President’s constitutional powers but he also called for good treatment of the Law and the preservation of the democratic tenets of the country. He said “According to the Court Appeal in the case of Olutu V. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and ors. It held that ‘it is a trite point of law that when a statute dictates a certain mode of doing something, then that method and no other must be employed in the performance of that act’. Pit differently, where legislation lays down a procedure for a thing, there should be no other method of doing it.”
“Nigeria operates a Presidential-Federalist system of government with a high concentration of political and executive powers in the person of the President. Therefore, this infraction of the CBN Act by the President on the removal of the CBN Governor may pass without any censure of the National Assembly or review by the judiciary. However, it is such disregard for plain provisions of the Law by the president who is supposed to set the example of legal compliance that creates the usual incipient negative impact on constitutional Democracy which rests on the rule of Law.”
“Therefore, whenever an administration starts glossing over express provisions of the law that serve to guarantee order, peace, good governance and economic prosperity of Nigeria, the culture disregards for court order and widespread violation of human rights begins to cascade for the various ministries department and agencies of the federal government together with all the other strata of government across the states and local government. This has been the bane of Nigeria’s stable development in all spheres and the recipe for corrupt abuse of political power and violation of Human Rights. That’s why the military junta often truncated National democracies. May that be far from us.”
Tietie continues, “The Nigerian state spends huge financial and human resources to maintain its democratic structures. Therefore, the National Assembly and its leadership must stand up at all times to live up to their responsibilities in upholding the Principles of democracy and separation of powers to avoid tyrannical acts of the executive by requiring strict compliance to every law that mandates its approval on such matters, the president is required to apply for.”
He concluded, “Therefore, when the National Assembly indeed discharges its roles in the political equation of checks and balances with the President and the Judiciary, there will be less of intervention by self-styled but We’ll meaning activists and civil society organizations who are often referred to as busybodies but are determined to seek judicial review of executive actions to ensure the rule of law and a stable Nigerian society.”
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