Ololade Adeyanju/
A lawyer, Gbenga Demola-Ojo, has faulted the position of Justice Alfa Belgore that the posthumous national honour for the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, is illegal.
The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Otunba Gani Adams, has also described the decision to recognise June 12 as Nigeria’s democracy as “a welcome development”.
Justice Belgore, a former Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of 2016 National Awards Committee, reportedly described the announcement by President Buhari that late Chief MKO Abiola would be conferred with a posthumous award of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic as illegal.
Belgore, told an online news outlet, PREMIUM TIMES, that the award of GCFR, being the highest award in the country, cannot be given posthumously.
He further said that by virtue of the National Honors Act, only soldiers can be given posthumous awards for their gallantry.
But Damola-Ojo countered the submission of the eminent jurist in a Facebook post on Wednesday, noting that Belgore must have focused on aspect of the law, which stipulates that recipients of the awards must receive it in person while overlooking the aspect of the same law that allows the President to override the earlier provision.
The post read: “I hear that the retired Justice SMA Belgore has declared that the posthumous GCFR award for MKO Abiola is illegal because Abiola is late, and according to the former CJN, the honour cannot be conferred posthumously.
“I suspect that what he had in mind was Section 2 of the Honours Warrant made pursuant to the Act, which requires that an awardee shall receive the award in person. If that was the case, I would say that he forgot Section 3 of the same Warrant, which empowers the President to dispense with the stipulations of section 2.”
Article 2 and 3 under Section 1 of the Honours Warrant (L.N. 67 of 1964), which relate to “eligibility for appointment to orders” and “mode of appointment to orders, etc.” specifically state:
“Subject to paragraph (2) of this article, a person shall not be eligible for appointment to any rank of an Order unless he is a citizen of Nigeria.
“A person other than a citizen of Nigeria shall be eligible for appointment as the honorary holder of any rank of an Order; and appointments made in pursuance of this paragraph shall be disregarded for the purposes of paragraph (3) of the foregoing article.
“The President shall by notice in the Federal Gazette signify his intention of appointing a person to a particular rank of an Order.
“Subject to the next following paragraph of this article, a person shall be appointed to a particular rank of an Order when he receives from the President in person, at an investiture held for the purpose- (a) the insignia appropriate for that rank; and (b) an instrument under the hand of the President and the public seal of the Federation declaring him to be appointed to that rank.
“If in the case of any person it appears to the President expedient to dispense with the requirements of paragraph (2) of this article, he may direct that that person shall be appointed to the rank in question in such a manner as may be specified in the direction.”
Adams, while reacting to the development, on Wednesday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to go further by restructuring Nigeria before the 2019 general elections.
He also described the decision to recognise June 12 as democracy day as “great Ramadan gift” noting that the president “will win the hearts of progressive-minded Nigerians if he can restructure the country before the election.”
His words: ”I commend the president for this historic decision and at the same time I am imploring him to do more on the basis of restructuring the country before the election so that Nigeria can truly move forward.
“If he can do justice on the issue of restructuring, Nigeria will not only move forward but if he continue in this direction, he will have the support of most progressive-minded Nigerians in future politics.”
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday announced the decision to honour Abiola, the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, with the highest national honour, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic.
The president in a statement he personally signed also said that, henceforth, the nation’s Democracy Day will be holding on June 12 of every year, as against the current arrangement where the ceremony holds on May 29.
Buhari said he would also honour Abiola’s running mate, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe; and the late human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, with the second highest National honour, the Grand Commander of the Niger.
The statement read: “For the past 18 years, Nigerians have been celebrating May 29, as Democracy Day. That was the date when, for the second time in our history, an elected civilian administration took over from a military government. The first time this happened was on October 21, 1979.
“But in the view of Nigerians, as shared by this administration, June 12, 1993 was far more symbolic of democracy in the Nigerian context than May 29 or even the October 1.
“June 12, 1993 was the day when Nigerians in millions expressed their democratic will in what was undisputedly the freest, fairest and most peaceful elections since our Independence.
“The fact that the outcome of that election was not upheld by the then military Government does not distract from the democratic credentials of that process.
“Accordingly, after due consultations, the Federal Government has decided that henceforth, June 12 will be celebrated as Democracy Day.
“Therefore, government has decided to award posthumously the highest honour of the land, GCFR, to late Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 cancelled elections.
“His running mate as Vice President, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, is also to be invested with a GCON.
“Furthermore, the tireless fighter for human rights and the actualisation of the June 12 elections and indeed for democracy in general, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN is to be awarded the GCON.
“The investiture will take place on Tuesday June 12, 2018, a date which in future years will replace May 29 as a National Public Holiday in celebration of Nigeria Democracy Day.”
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