Onnoghen : EU, US, UK can still cancel govt officials’ visas – Experts

Foreign Affairs’ experts have warned that key Federal Government
officials risked been blacklisted from travelling to the United
States and the European Union if the suspension of the Chief
Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen over alleged graft and
non-declaration of his assets is not properly managed.

The United States, United Kingdom and the European Union last
weekend slammed President Muhammadu over Onnoghen’s suspension
without recourse to the constitution and threatened to sanction
promoters and family members of electoral violence and rigging in
the forthcoming elections by cancelling their visas and placing
them on travel ban.

The US in particular said: “We note widespread Nigerian
criticism that this decision is unconstitutional and that it
undermines the independence of the judicial branch. That undercuts
the stated determination of government, candidates, and political
party leaders to ensure that the elections proceed in a way that is
free, fair, transparent, and peaceful – leading to a credible
result.”

Reacting to the development, a Professor of History and
International Relations at the University of Lagos, Prof. David
Aworawo, said that should the Buhari administration fail to remove
its self from the matter and allow the National Judicial Council
(NJC), which has already issued queries to Onnoghen and Justice
Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed to handle it, the international community
will be left with no option but to implement the proposed
sanctions.

“The situation is a very hasty affair. So the Federal Government
should allow whatever NJC decides – whether Onnoghen should be
reinstated and Tanko be sanctioned – to go through, otherwise,
sanctions are inevitable.
“As has been canvassed by many scholars, diplomats and the
international community, the timing and swiftness with which
Onnoghen was suspended and replaced very close to the elections
without recourse to constitutional process indicate that the matter
is more that prosecution of anti-graft war, but taken to gain
political advantage.

“As it is now, everyone is watching. Elections are not held in
mass, and it is on record that since the 90s, when over 50
elections were held in Africa, scores of them ended in violence.
The attitude of the incumbent government in those countries
engendered violence and you can predict with near mathematic
precision that this will not be different should this government
win in court under the current milieu

“In Nigeria, we all saw what happened in Ekiti and Osun in the
name of election and the outcome. If the elections are held in the
next few weeks and they are rigged, or you just run roughshod of
the will of the people, the international community will carry out
their threats and the sanctions will be inevitable,” Aworawo
said.

But a lecturer in the Department of Politics and International
Relations at the Lead City University, Ibadan, Dr. Badru Olufemi,
held a contrary view insisting that the warning of the
international community on the matter amounted to undue
interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs.
According to him, last year when President Donald Trump removed
three judges, no world leader rose against him, arguing they
leaders owns it a duty to recognise Nigeria’s sovereignty and obey
policy of non-interference in nation’s domestic affairs.

However, Nigeria’s former Consul-General in the United States,
Ambassador Joe Keshi, said the claims of non-interference as
contained in a statement issued by the Federal Government does not
hold water because Nigeria asked for it.

“If you don’t open your doors, the Devil will not come into your
house. Besides, President Buhari has no moral right to complain
because in 2015, he and his party courted the international
community and got their sympathy against then President Goodluck
Jonathan,” he said.
He added that Nigeria is not living in an isolated world and if any
nation took “a step that threatens internal security it is
indirectly inviting negative global reaction. You don’t complain of
interference when you took action hat warranted it.

“You don’t take such steps in such reckless manner as spurning
the constitution and think the world will stay quiet. They should
have followed due process and still removed Onnoghen. It is
unfortunate that APC is making the same mistakes PDP made in 2015
and winning more enemies for itself.
“There are certain actions you don’t take in an election year and
this is one, they were too hasty and spoilt everything for
themselves,” he said.

Incidentally, the Presidency and the ruling party, APC both
brushed aside the alarm raised by the international communities
saying that what took place was a purely domestic matter.