President Muhammadu Buhari says
his administration will not sacrifice issues of national security for the rule
of law.
The president said this while
delivering an address at the opening of the 2018 annual general conference of
the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja.
He said the rights of those who
threaten national security does not take priority in place of the greater good
of the society.
“The rule of law must be subject
to the supremacy of the nation’s security and national interest,” he said.
“Our apex court has had cause to
adopt a position on this issue in this regard and it is now a matter of
judicial recognition that; where national security and public interest are
threatened or there is a likelihood of their being threatened, the individual
rights of those allegedly responsible must take second place, in favour of the
greater good of society.”
Buhari said the choice of theme
for the conference titled ‘Transition, transformation and sustainable
institutions’ showed that the body of legal practitioners proffer solutions to
wider society problems.
Due to the longing of the
citizens for a change, he added that he had the challenge of transforming the
country swiftly to a place where there is no impunity in the management of
resource.
The president said there is need
to utilise the nation’s resources to meet the needs of common men and not the
greedy ones.
“In order to achieve this, we
have had to disrupt age-old assumptions and unsettle ancient norms in the
management of our national patrimony, as you have all witnessed in the last
three years,” he said.
“While we have made appreciable
progress in several sectors, including public awareness of the need to
challenge the corrupt and the brazen in our midst, we have also learnt useful
lessons on the dynamism of our society.
“However, elements within every
society, including some lawyers, can equally become unduly resistant to change,
even where it is proven that such change is to serve the interest of the larger
society. At worst, corruption fights
back.”
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