Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi
Osinbajo, has subtly condemned the SSS invasion of a court and re-arrest of
Omoyele Sowore, by declining to receive an anti-corruption award days after the
incident.
Mr Osinbajo, a law professor and
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has been criticised by many Nigerians for not
commenting publicly on the Friday invasion of an Abuja Federal High Court by
operatives of the State Security Service.
In what can be considered his
first public statement on the matter, Mr Osinbajo told the Wole Soyinka Centre
for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) that he could not receive an award he had
been given, few days after the court fiasco.
“… in view of the developments on
Friday in the Sowore case, I think it would be insensitive and inappropriate to
attend the ceremony,” Mr Osinbajo wrote to the award organisers on Sunday.
Mr Osinbajo had been named as the
recipient of the Integrity Specialty of the Anti-Corruption Defender Award for
his “invaluable work of overhauling the Lagos State Judiciary, facilitating
far-reaching reforms in the administration of justice in the state, his work of
promoting integrity in the civil society and business in Nigeria and his
consistency as a strong voice for promoting integrity in the country.”
However, in a message to the
organisers of the award, Mr Osinbajo said though he accepts the award, he could
not receive it at this time for two reasons.
“The award, I note, is for our
Justice reform efforts in Lagos State. I had accepted the award with pride on
behalf of the excellent Justice Sector team we had.
“However, two reasons explain my
absence. First is that I am currently in Abu Dhabi for an international meeting
under the auspices of the government of the UAE where I am the keynote speaker.
“Second, in view of the
developments on Friday, in the Sowore case, I think it would be insensitive and
inappropriate to attend the ceremony,” the vice president said.
The ‘Sowore Case’
Armed
SSS officials had on Friday, 6th December 2019, invaded the Abuja court to re-arrest Mr Sowore,
publisher of Sahara Reporters.
The activist and a co-accused, Olawale
bakare, had been released on Thursday night, 124 days after they were arrested
by the SSS for calling for a nationwide protest against bad governance.
The Nigerian government charged
them with treason, money laundering and insulting President Buhari.
Despite two separate court orders
for their release, the SSS refused to release both men.
However, last Thursday, Justice
Ijeoma Ojukwu ordered the SSS to release both men within 24 hours.
The agency complied with the
directive on Thursday night before the court invasion on Friday at the same Mrs
Ojukwu’s court.
Although the SSS later released a
statement claiming its officials did not invade the court, Femi Falana, the
counsel to Mr Sowore, said the head of the SSS team to the court apologised to
Mrs Ojukwu for the invasion.
That court invasion and re-arrest
of Mr Sowore has been condemned by many Nigerians as well as civil society
groups.
A lot of the criticism of the SSS
action was directed at Mr Osinbajo who is the second topmost official of the
Buhari presidency.
The SSS Director-General reports
directly to the president.
Without outrightly condemning the
court invasion and Mr Sowore’s rearrest, Mr Osinbajo’s reaction to his award
appears to show his disdain of the SSS’ action.
The Award
Earlier on Monday, the award
organisers admitted they had received a communication from the vice president.
They announced a postponement of
the award to Mr Osinbajo, also citing the treatment of Mr Sowore.
The centre had on Monday
postponed the presentation of the award to the vice president following outrage
over the conduct of the State Security Service at an Abuja court last Friday.
“The postponement was decided on, to align
with protests against the repression of freedom of speech in recent times
especially the incident between the Department of State Security (DSS) and
Omoyele Sowore, Publisher of Sahara Reporters, on Friday 6 December. The Vice
President himself shares this awareness and the inappropriateness of the award
at this point,” Motunrayo Alaka, the Executive Director of the WSCIJ said.
The WSCIJ holds the award
presentation event on December 9, the World Anti-Corruption Day and eve of the
World Human Rights Day to highlight the importance of investigative reporting
as a tool for accountability, good governance and social justice in a
democracy.
Apart from Mr Osinbajo, awards
would also be given to outstanding investigative journalists at the ceremony.
Amnesty International, a global
movement promoting human rights in Nigeria and beyond, was also to be honoured
with the Human Rights Specialty of the Anti-Corruption Defender Award for its
“remarkable voice against human rights violations and oppressive laws, and its
efforts to defend freedom of expression in Nigeria.”
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