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Refusal to obey court order is corruption – Emir

Published

5 years ago

November 10, 2018

The Emir of Gummi , Justice Lawal Hassan Gummi ( retd . ) , says refusal to obey a court order is another form of corruption , noting that government must exemplify the change it promised before expecting citizens to follow suit.
He said disrespect for the rule of law , bad governance , disobedience to court orders , non – compliance with electoral regulations by political parties , godfathers hijacking the electoral process and dwindling confidence in the justice system posed threats to Nigeria ’ s democracy .

The monarch , who was the keynote speaker at the Barewa Old Boys Association annual lecture , held at the Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic , Sokoto, spoke on the topic , ‘ The challenges of the judiciary to democracy : The Nigeria perspective. ’

The 97 – year old college , located in Kaduna State, is reputed for producing five out of Nigeria ’ s past leaders , including General Yakubu Gowon , Alhaji Shehu Shagari , late Umaru Yar ’ adua , late Gen . Murtala Mohammed and the late Abubakar Tafawa Balewa .

It has also produced three Chief Justices of Nigeria , three Inspectors – General of Police and four Secretaries to the Government of the Federation .

But in his address , Gummi described the judiciary as the watchdog of democracy , without which “ reckless marauders will attack the society , ” adding that an insecure judiciary is one of the greatest threats to democracy .

He said , “ Orders of court are disobeyed at will in the name of fighting corruption . No one institution , no matter how highly placed, should flout the laws of the land , not even under the guise of fighting corruption . Refusing to obey an order of court is another form of corruption in itself .

“ The executive cannot play the role of both the accuser and that of the judge at the same time. It is an aberration in a democracy . National security cannot take precedence over the rule of law ; rather , it should be guided by the rule of law .

“ Any democracy where the executive tries to intimidate and harass the legislature and / or the judiciary into doing its bidding is a democracy under threat . In the same vein , it is not right in a democracy for the National Assembly to make governance difficult for the executive for pecuniary reasons .
“ We all agree that we need change as promised by the government, but that change must first begin with them , then , you and me . ”