Ozekhome, who spoke this weekend in Abuja while reacting to the news of the release of abducted Kankara students, said Buhari has no moral justification for remaining in office since he could no longer perform the essential duties of protecting lives and property.
Mike Ozekhome, a
constitutional lawyer, says that the Muhammadu Buhari administration has lost
its legitimacy for abdicating its duty and functions in securing Nigeria.
Ozekhome, who spoke
this weekend in Abuja while reacting to the news of the release of abducted
Kankara students, said Buhari has no moral justification for remaining in
office since he could no longer perform the essential duties of protecting
lives and property.
He said the government
had continued to use propaganda to create an impression that the war against
Boko Haram terrorists and bandits was being won without considering the reality
on the ground.
Ozekhome described the
abduction of over 300 school children from Kankara in Katsina State as a sad
commentary on the security situation in the country.
He said it was
evidence that the government has lost its relevance and credibility for leaving
the citizens to their fate and at the mercy of bandits and Boko Haram.
The legal icon said
the government through propaganda made Nigerians believe that the terrorists
had been technically degraded and defeated.
He said, "As far
back as 2016, they were telling us that Boko Haram has been technically
degraded and defeated. According to the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed,
the government will go and do some mop-up operations in Sambisa forest, and
that was the end. I said that statement was a lie.
"The Federal
government has abdicated its duty in terms of providing security for the people
of Nigeria. Whereas under section 14,15 and 16 of the constitution of Nigeria,
the welfare and safety of the people are the primary functions of government.
"When the government
can no longer provide welfare and security for its people, then its legitimacy
becomes questionable," he added.
Ozekhome called on
President Buhari to rejig the security architecture of the country and stop
exposing Nigerians to untold dangers and threats of terrorists, adding that the
present security situation in the country would drive foreign investors away.
"No investors
will come to the country to invest where the security is so bad, where court
orders are not obeyed. Where citizens' fundamental rights are not
respected," he said.
"I don't want to
go into the conspiracy of automatic military alacrity. How much was paid as
ransom? The good thing is that children were said to have been abducted and
have also been said to have regained their freedom. But the question is that
why is the president finding it difficult to rejig the security architecture of
the country?"
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