Travel ban: Atiku, Falana whack Buhari

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, have condemned the travel ban placed on 50 prominent Nigerians by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a statement issued on his behalf by his campaign organisation, Abubakar said the ban is a throwback to the notorious “evil decree two” of 1984 enacted by the military government under Buhari.

“We must be unequivocal in saying that we abhor any act of criminality, financially or otherwise, but the rule of law must be our guide at all times or society will descend to anarchy,” the statement read.

The Atiku campaign organisation said it is precisely this type of draconian orders that have chased investors away from Nigeria and it is precisely why Nigerians will chase this recession friendly government away from power on February 16, 2019.

Falana, also in a statement on Sunday, said the directive which is backed by an executive order signed by the president is an “ingenious design to expose the Buhari administration to ridicule”.

“Sadly, the travel ban is a sad reminder of the reckless placement of political opponents on security watch list and seizure of their passports by the defunct military junta,” he said.

The senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said the executive arm of government is not empowered under the law to restrict the movement of criminal suspects.

Falana said only the anti-corruption agencies and courts have the right to restrict movement of individuals under investigation.

“The power of the anti-graft agencies and the courts to place criminal suspects on watch list or subject their passports to temporary seizure has never been in doubt.

“To that extent, the directive to place the 50 high profile suspected persons on watch list and restrict their movement is highly superfluous, completely unwarranted and totally uncalled for.

“In fact, it is an ingenious design to expose the Buhari administration to ridicule.

“If the federal government had done some background check it would have discovered that the names of the 50 VIPs have long been placed on security watch list while their passports have been impounded by the anti-graft agencies or the courts as one of the conditions for admitting them to bail.

“For the umpteenth time, I am compelled to caution the Buhari administration to wage the war against the menace of corruption within the ambit of the rule of law.