President Muhammadu Buhari has once again longed for the absolute prosecutorial powers he enjoyed when he led a military junta in Nigeria between 1983 and 1985.
As the president clocks 77 on Tuesday, he granted a brief interview to state-run television, NTA, telling the station that he was unhappy about democracy’s ‘slow’ method of justice.
“When I came in uniform, I collected those who were leading, took them to Kirikiri (Maximum Security Prison) and told them they were guilty until they could prove themselves innocent,” Mr Buhari said, lamenting that he had “learned the hard way” that he could not do that in a democracy.
“I put based on almost all the geopolitical zones committees to investigate them. Those that were found to have lived beyond their means, the balance was taken and were given to the states.
“But I myself was arrested, detained and they were given back what they have stolen.
“So under this system which is supposed to be more accountable, but it is too slow for my liking, but I have to follow it,” Mr Buhari said.
Several Nigerians including high profile individuals were sent to prison under Buhari’s draconian decrees two and four during his military regime. Many journalists were jailed under a decree that prohibited journalists from writing articles that were factual but “insulting” to public officials.
Some politicians who were targeted and summarily detained spent years in jail despite failure of military tribunals to find them guilty of corruption; while some laws were applied retroactively to execute drugs smuggling suspects.
Buhari had previously decried democratic checks and balances as unnecessarily cumbersome, but which he had no choice but to respect in order not to jeopardise the country’s nascent democracy. (Premium Times)
