Abuja-A pro-democracy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has faulted the explanation offered by Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice Alhaji Abubakar Malami for failing to arrest the Arewa youth that served a quit notice on Igbo in Northern states to leave by October 1st 2017.
The Rights group said the reported excuse of security reasons offered by the Chief law officer of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for not arresting the Northern Youth whose illegal anti- Igbo quit notice precipitated a pro-genocidal anti-Igbo Song in Hausa language, has exposed the current administration as that which is systematically executing a pro-North agenda as against the national security interest of Nigeria.
HURIWA threw it’s weight behind the recent criticism of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Alhaji Abubakar Malami (SAN) made by the hierarchy of the apex Igbo group in the Federal Republic of Nigeria- OHANAEZE NDIGBO which rightly tasked the minister to abide by his oath of office and stop pandering to the whims and caprices of the Northern regional interest as against national security interest of Nigeria.
HURIWA said: “We hereby affirm our total support to the clamour around the World including the United Nations on the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to arrest and prosecute the members of the Arewa youth coalition for issuing threats against a section of Nigerians living in the 19 Northern States beore October 1st 2017.
“We are shocked and disappointed with current holder of the office of the Federal Attorney General who rather than engage in meticulous introspection with a view to correcting his ethical and constitutional missteps has dugged deeper and further into deliberate error and calculated attempts to undermine the sanctity of the Nigerian Constitution and has unfortunately embarked on wholly thoughtless verbal defence of the treasonable and criminal conducts of the Northern Youth and the serial diatribes which were spewed out by the characters that masquerade around as Northern elders. We condemn these northern elders whose support overtly or covertly for the atrocious quit notice of their youth remains a potent threat to national unity and security.”
The Rights group also expressed consternation that President Muhammadu Buhari upon his return from over 100 days medical tourism in UK has decided to lunch an unnecessary manhunt and to ask the armed forces to crush the unarmed and totally peaceful campaigners of self determination of the South East of Nigeria known as Indigenous peoples of Biafra(IPOB) but has failed to order the arrest and prosecution of the Arewa youth coalition members who threatened national security by their widely reported anti-Igbo quit notice.
“Our deepest worry and consternation at the entrenched biasness of the current holder of the high office of the Federal Attorney General and minister of justice is hinged on the inevitable conclusion to be drawn from a rational analysis of his unconstitutional attempts to offer reasons for his failure to order the prosecution of members of Arewa youth coalition but has instead rushed back to the Federal High court to seek the revocation of the bail granted Mr Nnamdi Kanu who had spent two years in Prison begore been granted very stringent bail.”
“The logical interpretation to be drawn from the ill-intentioned and illegal defence of the atrocious actions of Arewa youth as disclosed in a recent media conference launched by Alhaji Abubakar Malami is that he has reduced the larger office of the president of Nigeria to that of a regional warlord of Hausa/Fulani Moslem North.”
“This is indeed pathetically sad and shockingly disappointing for the very fundamental reason that the constitution imposes on the president, the unbiased leadership of the entire country and by so doing, expect that his appointee for the office of Attorney General of the Federation complies totally with the intendments and imports of section 150 of the constitution which states thus: “150. (1) there shall be an Attorney-General of the Federation who shall be the Chief Law Officer of the Federation and a Minister of the Government of the Federation. (2) A person shall not be qualified to hold or perform the functions of the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation unless he is qualified to practice as a legal practitioner in Nigeria and has been so qualified for not less than ten years.”
“Importantly section 174 (3) of the constitution charges the Attorney General thus: “(3) In exercising his powers under this section, the Attorney-General of the Federation shall have regard to the public interest, the interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process”.
“As stated earlier it is our affirmation that the biased tendencies of the justice minister has robbed off on the locus of presidential authority and has portrayed president Buhari as a Northern political president.”
“This is contrary to the clear provision of section 132(4) of the constitution, which can rightly be adduced by an interpretive look at the simple provision which inevitably extends the source of the authority of the president beyond regions, zones, states or local constituents’ areas to the entire Federation”.
“We condemn the illegal and evil disposition of the AGF in refusing to order the arrest of the Arewa Youth and their prosecution in the competent court of law.It is a shame that even after the United Nations had called for the arrest and prosecution of the Arewa Youth who issued the quit notice against Igbo, the AGF gave deaf ears to these satanic agenda which precipitated the widely circulated hate song in Hausa language against Igbo.”
“We call on all well-meaning Nigerians to reject the illegal and biased decision of the AGF to launch a manhunt against IPOB even when he completely refused to do his job in the public interest. What is the agenda of the AGF, if we may ask? As Aristotle would say, law is order, and good law is good order. The AGF in the person of Abubakar Malami must not be allowed to dance around and refuse deliberately to enforce the provisions of the constitution equitably, transparently and openly without exhibiting the mundane attitudes of a biased Northern irredentist.”
“May we remind the AGF and the president of what Augustine of Hippo asked-‘If justice be taken away, what are governments but great bands of robbers?”.
