Sunday Igboho: Obasanjo should not obstruct judicial process – Prof. Balogun
A former Special Adviser to the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Professor Murtala Jide Balogun, has cautioned ex President Olusegun Obasanjo against interference in the judicial process involving Yoruba nation activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho.
Professor Balogun, who is also a former Director General of the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), Badagry, in a Facebook post, gave the warning while reacting to Chief Obasanjo’s reported recent visit to Cotonu, capital of Benin Republic and his meetings with former President Nicephore Soglo and current President Patrice Athanase Talon on behalf of Igboho, who is presently in detention in Cotonu, being prosecuted in the country’s courts.
Arguing that Chief Obasanjo should allow the judicial process of Benin Republic to take its course as it concerns Igboho, Professor Balogun, who said that his position should not be seen as opposition to attempts to help secure the release of Igboho, insisted that “the law must first be allowed to take its course before politics and diplomacy take over.”
Full text of the post reads:
I understand that ex-President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, recently visited Cotonou, capital of Benin Republic. It is also widely reported that he met former President Nicephore Soglo and current President Patrice Athanase Talon.
Nigeria’s former Head of State hasn’t done anything wrong by visiting Benin and by meeting both ex-President Soglo and the current Head of State, Talon. Chief Obasanjo is merely exercising his right as a citizen while at the same time, fulfilling his customary obligations as a former Head of State.
However, Obasanjo would have crossed the line if, during his visit, he, either directly or indirectly, brought up a matter which is sub judice, the matter of Sunday Adeyemo Igboho, to be precise. As a former Head of State, Obasanjo ought to appreciate the necessity to respect the independence and integrity of the judiciary. Anyway, if intervening in cases before the law courts is an acceptable practice elsewhere, I doubt that the Republic of Benin will want to copy that odious practice. Benin will also feel disrespected if someone would ask it to do what that someone cannot ask developed and “civilized” countries (like the USA, the UK, or France) to do. Imagine President Buhari going to Washington DC to plead on behalf of Nigerians facing miscellaneous charges in the law courts!
I don’t want to be understood as opposed to efforts at getting Chief Igboho out of the situation that he walked himself into. I am only counselling that whatever assistance anyone wishes to offer must not be in conflict with due process of the law! The law must first be allowed to take its course before politics and diplomacy take over. Ex-President Obasanjo is an advocate of good governance and the rule of law. He will understand where I am coming from.
