Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has urged President
Bola Tinubu to demonstrate leadership by ensuring Nigeria complies with the
judgments of the ECOWAS Court of Justice.
Falana spoke while reacting to remarks made by Tinubu during
the 50th anniversary celebration of the Economic Community of West African
States, ECOWAS, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA,
Lagos.
Tinubu, who chairs the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State
and Government, had praised the regional body’s commitment to democratic norms,
citing institutions like the ECOWAS Parliament and Court of Justice as key
pillars of accountability and people-centred governance.
However, Falana, a former President of the West African Bar
Association, WABA, disagreed, saying, “With respect, the ECOWAS leaders have
failed to uphold democratic norms and the rule of law. Hence, the region
continues to witness unconstitutional changes of government.”
The senior lawyer particularly condemned the disregard for
the ECOWAS Court rulings, citing a record number of unenforced judgments across
the region.
According to him, as of December 2024, Nigeria tops the list
with 44 unenforced judgments, followed by Togo (27), Guinea (15), Mali (10),
Sierra Leone (9), and several others.
Falana further pointed out the irony that several former
heads of state — including Charles Taylor (Liberia), Laurent Gbagbo (Côte
d’Ivoire), Boni Yayi (Benin), Mamadou Tanja (Niger), and Blaise Compaoré
(Burkina Faso) — who once ignored the Court’s rulings later turned to the same
institution for protection of their human rights after leaving office.
“In 2014, Nigeria designated the Attorney-General and
Minister of Justice as the competent authority for enforcing ECOWAS Court
judgments. It is embarrassing that Nigeria, under President Tinubu’s leadership
as ECOWAS Chairman, is leading the list of violators,” Falana stated.
He tasked Tinubu to immediately instruct the
Attorney-General, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, to enforce all outstanding ECOWAS Court
judgments, describing it as a necessary step to restore the nation’s
credibility and reinforce ECOWAS’s legal framework.
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