But reacting to the situation on Monday, Soyinka said that
there was no legal premise upon, which Buhari was making the new order.
Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has said that President
Muhammadu Buhari had no constitutional backing to declare a total lockdown of
Lagos, Ogun and Abuja.
While addressing the country in a televised broadcast on
Sunday, Buhari had said that starting from 11:00pm on Monday (today), movement
within the three cities was banned in order to give authorities the chance to
properly combat the spread of Coronavirus in the country.
Lagos and Abuja have the highest of infections for the virus
in Nigeria.
The total confirmed cases in the Coronavirus in the country
currently stands at 111 with one recorded death
But reacting to the situation on Monday, Soyinka said that
there was no legal premise upon, which Buhari was making the new order.
He said, "Constitutional lawyers and our elected
representatives should kindly step into this and educate us, mere lay minds.
"The worst development I can conceive is to have a
situation where rational measures for the containment of the Corona pandemic
are rejected on account of their questionable genesis.
"So, before this becomes a habit, a question: does
President Buhari have the powers to close down state borders? We want clear
answers. We are not in a war emergency.
"Appropriately focussed on measures for the saving
lives, and committed to making sacrifices for the preservation of our
communities, we should nonetheless remain alert to any encroachment on
constitutionally demarcated powers. We need to exercise collective vigilance,
and not compromise the future by submitting to interventions that are not
backed by law and constitution.
"A President who has been conspicuously AWOL is now
alleged to have woken up after a prolonged siesta, and begun to issue orders.
"Who actually instigates these orders anyway? From
where do they really emerge? What happens when the orders conflict with state
measures, the product of a systematic containment strategy - `including even
trial-and-error and hiccups - undertaken without let or leave of the centre.
"So far, the anti-COVID19 measures have proceeded along
the rails of decentralised thinking, multilateral collaboration and technical
exchanges between states.
"I urge governors and legislators to be especially
watchful. No epidemic is ever cured with constitutional piracy. It only lays
down new political viruses for the future."
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