Recent court pronouncements are refocusing attention on the serial disobedience of court orders and trampling on the rule of law by state officials. Just before his removal on Monday as Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, like his predecessors, had refused to obey a court order to reinstate some compulsorily retired officers, prompting an order for his arrest by a court. Similar arrest orders had been issued against other security chiefs. As he assembles a new team, President Bola Tinubu should impress it on his appointees that lawlessness and impunity would no longer be tolerated.

The National Industrial Court in Abuja ordered the arrest of Baba, and the Nigeria Police Force Secretary, Hafiz Inuwa, for refusing to reinstate some police officers who had been compulsorily retired. Justice Oyebiola Oyewumi had in April 2022 ordered that the officers be reinstated. Advisories urging compliance by the Police Service Commission and the legal department of the force were reportedly ignored by Baba. His excuses, including that the officers were retired before he became IG, are untenable. The newly-appointed Acting IG, Kayode Egbetokun, and the PSC should unconditionally obey the court orders.

Successive Nigerian governments, officials and especially security personnel, are habitual abusers of the rule of law and human rights. They flout court orders with impunity. Under the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari, their recklessness and impunity reached a new high.

Tinubu, who constantly prides himself as a democrat, must be different. He should set an example by obeying the law and compelling all officials of state to demonstrate utmost fealty to the rule of law, the cornerstone of democracy. Emphasising this, the Rule of Law Alliance, a San Jose, Costa Rica-based non-profit, declares, “The rule of law is critical for the advancement of democracy, rooted in equal rights and accountability. By strengthening the rule of law, we protect the rights of all people, advance inclusiveness, and limit the arbitrary exercise of power, which are the cornerstones of modern democracy.”

In March, Fatun Riman, a judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ruled that Baba’s continued stay in office was illegal, on the grounds that he had reached the retirement age as a civil servant. Although the same court recently vacated the order, both Baba, and Buhari had ignored the earlier ruling by extending Baba’s appointment.

Tinubu and Egbetokun should respect the citizens’ right to peaceful assembly, stop relying on the obsolete military-inspired Public Order Act of 1979, as against the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the subsisting 2006 Court of Appeal judgement that affirms the inalienable constitutional right of Nigerians to peaceful assembly.

Security agencies trample on the rule of law in diverse ways. They often treat court orders with contempt, violently disrupt peaceful assemblies, engage in arbitrary arrests, torture, detain suspects or government critics beyond the legal limit, and unlawfully seize private property. Extra-judicial killings sometimes occur.

The recently suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, was twice charged for contempt of court between October 2022 and February 2023. A judge of the Kogi State High Court, Rukayat Ayoola, ordered that he be remanded in the Kuje Correctional Centre for 14 days, “until he purges himself of contempt” over the illegal arrest and arraignment of one Ali Bello on money-laundering charges in February. Chizoba Oji, a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja had passed a similar order on Bawa in October 2022.

The Federal Road Safety Corps and states’ Vehicle Inspection Offices and traffic agencies continue to impose fines, demand documents, and impound vehicles despite a slew of court orders forbidding these activities. Public agencies either just ignore unfavourable court judgements or treat their appeals as stay of execution.

Another serial offender is the Department of State Services; it disobeyed court orders over the unlawful arrests, detention, and release of activist, Omoyele Sowore, Shi’ite leader, Ibrahim el-Zakzaky, and journalist, Agba Jalingo, at different times. Tinubu should compel a culture shift at the agency. His swinging broom should sweep away its current leadership to be replaced with professionals more attuned to the democratic ethos.

The most stable democracies secure their countries very effectively without trampling on civil rights or disobeying court orders. Ken McCallum, director-general of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, M15, revealed that 31 late-stage terror plots were foiled in the United Kingdom between 2017 and September 2021. These successful security operations were conducted within the law and without violating civic rights.

The ousted Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, also flouted a Supreme Court order over the new naira notes. The Federal Government has continued to ignore a 2018 Federal High Court order to publish details of recovered stolen assets in accordance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007. The lawlessness is costly; Nigeria is reported to owe $557 million, £99 million, and N226 billion in judgment debts.

Also, state governors frequently ride roughshod on citizen’s rights. Ex-Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, was notorious for rolling out bulldozers to demolish homes and business premises in defiance of due process and court orders. He demolished Durbar Hotel, Kaduna, despite an interim injunction by a High Court stopping further action pending determination of the case in April.

Also, former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, refused to pay the salaries of some school teachers for more than seven years despite rulings by the NIC in favour of the teachers. Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, disobeyed the Supreme Court judgment that overturned the sacking and non-payment of salaries and arrears of the state’s 33 local government councils’ elected officials in 2021. Within two weeks in office, Governor Abba Yusuf has been destroying what he labelled “illegal structures” in Kano with scant regard to due process.

Tinubu must end the impunity, and prioritise the strengthening of institutions and the enforcement of laws and court orders. Restoration of respect for the rule of law should be part of his legacy.

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