Monday UBANI
“The president is actually wrong to have said that because the rule of law is supreme. In fact, the national interest and national security are even protected by the rule of law. If you look at the present constitution we have, it says those liberties of individuals can be curtailed subject to national interest and national security.
“So, you can curtail those rights but that can only be done when there is an arm of government that interprets that when you present your facts to show why the liberty of an individual that is protected under the constitution should be curtailed, because every liberty is enforceable because the right to life, the right to freedom of movement and the not to be debased are all fundamental human rights.
“The law says wherever there is any threat or even breach you have a right to approach the court in order to have those rights protected. If you are not going to deny an individual those rights as provided by the constitution, it is the same court that will look at the evidence you are presenting to show that this man’s right was abridged because of overriding public interest or overriding national security. You the executive cannot begin to interpret what amounts to national security and national interest over individual’s right. You don’t do that.
“I think what the president was trying to explain to we lawyers when he came to open the conference was to tell us that ‘we have reasons why we are detaining someone like Dasuki and we have a reason why we are detaining someone like El-Zakzaki’s, despite court orders to the contrary.
“So, they are now telling us that the rule of law can be subject to whatever they interpret to. But we have faulted him, because it is the same court, in the case of Asari, that said he should be released on bail, having