Travel Ban Has No Place In A Democratic Society Anchored On Rule Of Law—PALU President, Obegolu

The Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) has through its president, Chief Emeka J. P. Obegolu called on the President of the Democratic Federal Republic of Nigeria to immediately withdraw the Travel ban as same amounts to an executive affront on the judiciary by purporting to vary the terms of the bail conditions granted the affected persons by the courts. Mr Obegolu made this call following a statement issued on Sunday by the Buhari’s spokesman, Mr. Garba Shehu, announcing the placement of certain Nigerians who are currently facing corruption charges before courts of competent jurisdiction on TRAVEL BAN in what was, according to the Presidency, part implementation of Executive Order No. 6. According to President of PALU, “Defendants, upon arraignment before a court on charge(s) of corruption already have their freedom of movement limited by law and upon their application for bail, the Constitution enables the court to assess their suitability for bail and determine the conditions for bail where bail will be granted. “Part of the statutory criteria for the court to consider before making this determination is whether the defendant will constitute a flight risk. “This explains why courts in most trials of corruption cases insist that defendants deposit their international passports with the court or with EFCC and where the defendant wants to travel for any reason, it is to the same court that he/she will apply to for leave to travel. “All these are within the powers of the judiciary when the Executive arraigns a suspect. “After arraignment the courts assume jurisdiction over the defendant and his/her fundamental liberties and when the Executive suspects that a defendant is a flight risk, the duty on them is to convince the court to deny the defendant bail or to revoke bail where already granted. He further stated that the purport of the Travel ban is that the executive arm of government is unilaterally varying the terms of bail granted by the judiciary. In other words, the Executive sat on appeal over decision of the judiciary. “PALU is of the opinion that the travel ban violates the doctrine of separation of powers, usurps the powers of the judiciary and has no place in a democratic society anchored on rule of law, Obegolu added. ]]>