By Godwin Amunde
A group, Democracy Watch Initiative, DWI, has called on the Nigerian Senate to disregard a petition against the immediate past governors of Zamfara and Kebbi states, Bello Matawalle and Atiku Bagudu respectively.
The petitioner, Osa Director, a legal practitioner, had urged the Nigerian Senate not to confirm Matawalle and Atiku Bagudu as ministers, owing to what he called the corruption allegation against them and poor performance while in office.
DWI, in a statement signed by its Director, Public Relations, Tukur Habu, labeled Osa Director’s claims as baseless and devoid of merit, while highlighting what it describes as ignorance of legal principles, emphasizing that accusations do not equate to convictions in a court of law.
The statement further pointed out that accusations alone cannot disqualify individuals from holding public office, reiterating the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.”
“First, we find it funny and ridiculous, that one, who claims to be a lawyer should at the same time be ignorant of the elementary principle of criminal justice system, that only a duly constituted court of competent jurisdiction can pronounce a person guilty.
“They fail to know that the only disqualification for a person from holding public office is conviction, and not accusation, no matter how weighty the accusation.
“We also urge Bello Matawalle, the main target of Osa’s vented jealousy, not to be drawn into altercations with people that do not know, but pretend they know. Matawalle should remain focused and calm as usual, now that he is being called to a national assignment that requires greater concentration and decorum.
“We also reassure President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of our confidence in the right choices he made of men who will competently and confidently assist him in the task of seeing the nation through and out of its current limitations around security and the economy,” the statement read in part.
The statement also called attention to the petitioner’s alleged lack of awareness regarding the screening process that ministerial nominees undergo before confirmation by the Senate, and urged the Nigerian Senate to dismiss the accusations and treat them with the disregard they believe they deserve.
