Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari under fire for rule of law comments
The former military dictator said national security is more important than the rule of law
Lagos — Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari came under fire on Tuesday from the opposition, lawyers and civil society groups for placing national security above the rule of law. Buhari, a former military dictator in the 1980s, but who was elected in 2015 and is seeking re-election in February, said the "rule of law must be subject to the supremacy of the nation’s security and national interest". The 75-year-old made the remarks at the opening of the Nigerian Bar Association’s annual conference in Abuja on Sunday. "Where national security and [the] public interest are threatened or there is a likelihood of their being threatened, the individual rights … must take second place, in favour of the greater good of society," he said. But the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the rule of law should not be compromised. "Our national interest is thoroughly embedded, protected, expressed and enforced only under the rule of law … and there is no (way) how Nigerians can allow...
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