An Abuja based human rights lawyer, Hamid Ajibola Jimoh has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari committed illegality by addressing Nigerians.
Buhari spoke to Nigerians on Monday, two days after he arrived in Abuja from his prolonged medical vacation.
Reacting, the legal practitioner said the broadcast was in breach of Section 145 (1) of the Constitution, which stipulates a transmission of letter to the National Assembly before the president carries on with his duties.
He declared the broadcast “invalid, null and void”, insisting that as at the point Buhari gave his speech, the legislature had not been formally notified of his return.
“I am of the view that the President should apologise to Nigerians for contravening the provision of the Constitution if it is not a deliberate act. Law is different from morality, emotion or politics.
“After that, the president may now address the nation properly according to law now that he has transmitted a letter of written declaration to the National Assembly.
“The principle of rule of law and constitutionalism is that everybody must be bound by the law. It is the supreme law. If we just close eyes on him we may be laying a bad precedent where any other person will just disregard the law. Of what use is law when they are not obeyed?
“Anything the President did prior to the transmission of the written declaration is null and void. The president, by the provisions of Section 24 of the Constitution is duty bound to abide by the Constitution,” Daily Trust quoted him as saying.
