Tambuwal Blasts Obasanjo

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, yesterday came down heavily on ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s eight-year rule, describing the administration as the worst defaulter of the principles of the rule of law. He gave the indictment at the 30th Mallam Aminu Kano Memorial Lecture, which took place at the Sa’Adu Zungur Auditorium, Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Research and Training, Mambayya House, Kano.

The lecture was chaired by Abubakar B Mahmood (SAN). It was attended by some serving lawmakers, politicians as well as academics including Dr. Junaid Mohammed, Alhaji Magaji Dambatta, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, the Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed and the Chairman of the Implementation Committee, North-West University, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar. In his paper titled: “The rule of law as fundamental condition for democracy and good governance,” the Speaker observed that the Obasanjo administration, “ contrived the political space and usurped the powers of both the legislature and the judiciary, posing a grave danger to the democratic content of democracy.”

Tambuwal said the overall score card of the administration in the first four years was, “spotted with executive arbitrariness,” although the administration set up some institutional and administrative agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), it adopted the principle of due process and persistently proclaimed the independence of the judiciary. He said that “most of the claims of the government on the gains in the rule of law turned out to be mere political gimmicks as they were clearly unfounded and merely designed to create the impression that it was no longer business as usual in Nigeria after the prolonged military rule.”

He cited cases of the abuse of the rule of law to include the Zaki Biam and Odi massacres, the failure to respect the Supreme Court’s judgment asking the administration to remit N10.8 billion to the Lagos State Government, among others. He said that during “the Obasanjo administration, and to a lesser extent Yar’Adua/Jonathan’s, the constitutional provisions regarding the power of the purse and appropriation are overlooked in contravention of the principle of the separation of powers as well as checks and balances. “This was the case in the controversies over the implementation of the 2005, 2011 and 2012 Appropriation Acts,” he noted. According to Tambuwal, the disrespect for the rule of law has opened up another debate on the legitimacy of public officers at the national, state and local government levels.

He listed the challenges to the application of the rule of law to include five key areas. Among them is the executive over-bearance, which impacts negatively on the other arms and have further weakened non -state actors such as civil society organizations and the media; the lack of judicial independence; corruption; the scope of the doctrine of immunity as it relates to the principles of equality before the law; and the challenges of free and fair elections, which have since become a means of disenfranchising a large segment of the electorate.

The Speaker singled out the legislature and regretted that the legitimate performance of its constitutional duties tend to be perceived in the executive circles and even in some sections of the public, as legislative meddlesomeness in governance. According to him, “the legislature is the most misunderstood because of the obscurity thrust upon it by the several years of military regimes, “ pointing out that while the society will accept as justice the passing of a death sentence by a court of competent jurisdiction, the same society will react with hostility to a mere impeachment proposal by the legislative arm of government. Tambuwal was, however, confident that the country was passing through a learning process, noting that, “what is required is for public officers to develop the political mindset to change their obnoxious political culture, of absolutism in the struggles for the acquisition or retention of power.”

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/tambuwal-blasts-obj/

Hmnn!
Tambuwal is beating his 2015 presidential ambition drum already

Clears throat,wanted to say something but changed mind and walks away. Sorry o but Baba people dey accuse u too much o.our people talk say where pikin dey cry dey point if en papa head no dey dia en mama head go dey dia.Baba true true u bullied people wela o

Just passing by

HE DESERVES IT.
WHEN HE HAS BROUGHT HIMSELF SO LOW.
IRRELEVANT OLD MAN. MTCHEEEEWU!

Although BaBa is not Our President,all i have to say is that Mr. Speaker should behave himself oo.

nigeria jagajaga

@tambuwal,go straight to d point..u want to run for d presidential post come 2015.

Yes but at last he's better than clueless

was he sleeping before or he was on pilgrim?.

mmmustapha: Yes but at last he's better than clueless

come again pls

Is Jonathan's beta? Pls can somebody list 10 capital projects dis administration has done,yet they spend 70% of 5trillion evry year,people wil rembr Obj for many tins including debt relif,wht can we rembr dis govt for?

Tambuwal should shut d f**k up nd sit down. What good has the subsequent administrations done? Rubbish...
Baba still remains the best president that has ruled dis country. PROF T

what did you expect the man was soldier!The naija of tht tme actually needed a strong fist to weld evry1 together,the political stlye of obj and GEj are world apart.I thnk baba can be excused for his arbitrariness because our democracy was nascent.
To be a president of naija and as much anywhere else,its either you are astrong man or you are a deft commuinicator with a strong character.GEJ is neither of these.He is just plain docile!

drberry: Tambuwal should shut d f**k up nd sit down. What good has the subsequent administrations done? Rubbish...
Baba still remains the best president that has ruled dis country. PROF T

Don't mind the Aboki.obj left office 6 years ago and power generation hasn't exceed 4000MW !

The same people condemning Obj for deploying soldiers to avenge the killing of police and soldiers are now canvassing for the deployment of same soldiers to commit genicide in the North .hypocrisy at its finest !

kettle calling pot black, this guy is so swagaless, even if i no like dimeji B he made it everyday to the newspapers, dis guy is so dull dat i even forgot he existed. he prob has called baba in his voice phaba, uw knww zayy all naa phormat, #yeyerollin

Madawaki01: @tambuwal,go straight to d point..u want to run for d presidential post come 2015.

..dt isnt a bad ambition, @ least i view him a better candidate dn most of dese riff raff politicians..
I swear i can vote for him provided he doesnt run under d umbrella of d Poverty Development Party, PDP.

The guy bin don revenge baba accusation say the house of rep members are a bunch of rogues!

at least we always knew where baba stood on issues no matter hw tough,but we cant say tht of our siddon look GEJ while the house is crumbling on our heads.

ochukoccna: Hmnn!
Tambuwal is beating his 2015 presidential ambition drum already

mark this day! With this statement credited to tambuwal, he (tanbuwal) will not complete his present tenure as a speaker of the house talk not of becoming a senator..... Oti she rae pa.

mmmustapha: Yes but at last he's better than clueless

Aboki, what're u sayin?

Another silly man....who is hungry for power...

tinnymerit: was he sleeping before or he was on pilgrim?.

None of the above, just that 2015 is around the corner and for every smart politician its time to become "emergency activist" and score some cheap political points.

Mr speaker,you know what is d end of ur political race,you will surely go where most of ur ex speaker are.You belong to histroy.Stop using Baba‘s name for political attention.Ole speaker,justice is waiting for you in 2015.

Gennyz: Is Jonathan's beta? Pls can somebody list 10 capital projects dis administration has done,yet they spend 70% of 5trillion evry year,people wil rembr Obj for many tins including debt relif,...wht can we rembr dis govt for?...

subsidy removal.

ewet: The guy bin don revenge baba accusation say the house of rep members are a bunch of rogues!

Oh I got it. So,it's just a way of getting back at the best president Nigeria has ever had.

No fight o

pat077: subsidy removal.

Smilin in swahili

Kids, have no right whatsoever, to insult adults, even when those adults are dancing in the market square without an under wear.

But they have the right to point out the mistakes, errors and ommissions of the adults for future references, which is what i believe that the honourable speaker is doing.

If mr. Obasanjo (not general please) did'nt perform up to average as mr. Tambuwal is making us to believe, why not invite him to the house to explain himself.
And if mr. Speaker thinks that the former president committed any atrocity in odi and zaki biam, then invite him for questioning, for christ sake, you are the mouthpiece of the country.

Deep down inside me, i believe that mr. Mathew olusegun obasanjo performed below 30 percent in his 8 years rule as the president of Nigeria, but until nigerians are ready to do the right thing (which is to prosecute him ), they should allow the old man (91 years) to rest.

Jonathan and Obasanjo who is beta?

Hmmmmmm




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