June 12 Democracy Day will be effective after amendment of Act, says AGF

Babagana Kingibe, Yemi Osinbajo, Muhammadu Buhari, Kola Abiola and Mrs. Ganiyat Fawenhinmi at the investiture of national honours on Abiola, Kingibe and Fawehinmi

June 12 Democracy Day will be effective after amendment of Act, says AGF Malami

Nigeria’s Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami has said the declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day and Public Holiday in Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari was just a mere statement of desire, saying that the wish will be effective after amendment of existing Public Holiday Act.

But Buhari did not make the statement as a statement of desire. He projected it as a declaration that does not have to go any constitutional amendment process.

Nigeria chief law officer made the clarification, Tuesday, after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, as he fielded questions on whether Buhari’s declaration contravened the Public Holiday Act.

ALSO READ: 

Which date is handover date in Nigeria: May 29 or June 12?

Is this ‘love’ for Abiola political or genuine?

Nigeria will still contend with the issue of Democracy Day and handover day. Constitutionally, May 29th is Nigeria’s handover date. If you were sworn-in on May 29th and you have a four-year term, you have to hand over on the 29th May of the fourth year. Anything short of that will be unconstitutional. This implies that Nigeria will celebrate democracy holidays on May 29th and on June 12. On May 29th, you have a change of government. On June 12, you celebrate Democracy Day. This is another issue that Nigerians will contend with.

Malami said: “As it relates to public holidays, there is truly a Public Holiday Act. The Act can be amended and the process of amendment has been put in place. When the Act has been fully amended, the declaration of the President will come into effect. It is a declaration of intention, a declaration of desire and that will eventually be given effect with the amendment of the existing law.”

On whether the President could singlehandedly award posthumous recognition to any Nigerian, the Attorney General explained: “I think we need to make distinctions between the Nigerian National Merit Award Act and the Nigerian National Honours Act. They are two distinct and different applicable laws as far as national honours and awards are concerned. Above all, we equally have in existence precedent as it relates to the award of posthumous honours. I can recall that a former Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed, was equally honoured posthumously.”

It was also disclosed that the Federal Government approved the payment of N500 million to a team of external lawyers including seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) who facilitated the recovery of the fine slammed on telecommunications giant, MTN.

The Guardian recalled that the legal battle instituted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) against MTN has seen the corporation paying at least N165 billion of a total N330 billion fine.

Malami justified the payment, saying it represented a fair deal and amounted to less than one per cent of the entire fine.

He said the Federal Government was in the process of forwarding a bill on copyright violations and corresponding sanctions to the National Assembly.

The Federal Government is also collaborating with the government of Switzerland to repatriate $500 million allegedly looted by former Head of State, General Sani Abacha, and other high profile citizens.

Malami said: “The Federal Government engaged the services of lawyers to put up defence on its behalf. As a result, the parties eventually settled the case amicably. And arising from that settlement, the lawyers were entitled to their fees.

“The Federal Government has now sanctioned the payment of N500 million for the N330 billion agreed upon for the alleged breaches in their (MTN’s) operations. This amount is less than one per cent of the fee instead of the internationally recognised fee, which is pegged at five per cent.

“Finally was a report on the global forum on assets recovery. You will recall that in December 2017, Federal Government participated in a global forum on asset recovery in Washington DC. And during that forum, Nigeria and Switzerland signed an agreement that paved the way for the repatriation of $322 million relating to looted assets. And on the account of that, the amount was eventually repatriated back to Nigeria,” said Malami.