President Bola Tinubu has pledged to govern by the Nigerian constitution and the rule of law, reversing his predecessor’s course.
At his inauguration on Monday, Mr Tinubu guaranteed that his economic policies would be supported by respect for the Constitution and the rule of law.
At his inauguration in 2015, Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Tinubu’s predecessor, made a comparable pledge.
However, the Buhari government entered the arena of rights breaches within the first seven months with the slaughter of Shiites in Zaria, Kaduna State, and repeated contraventions of court orders.
Many court rulings releasing Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki were disobeyed by the Buhari administration during their first few months in power.
This mentality persisted as a defining characteristic throughout his eight-year administration, fostering a climate of disobedience to court orders and disrespect for the law.
The Buhari administration continued its unpopular naira-exchanging strategy in its final days in office, showing a callous disregard for the immense suffering it caused millions of Nigerians.
Unmoved by Nigerians’ pain, Mr Buhari defied a Supreme Court judgement for weeks, ordering him and the Central Bank of Nigeria to acknowledge the legal tender status of the old naira notes they had taken out of circulation without adequately replacing them with their new counterparts.
In March, the Supreme Court issued its final ruling on the case, declaring Buhari to have repeatedly violated court orders over eight years in power.
Tinubu, a member of the same political party as Buhari (the All Progressives Congress, or APC), assumed office on Monday with many pressing concerns, like the Nnamdi Kanu scenario and the currency crisis, which remained open.
The incoming president stated that he would centre his economic plans on the rule of law and security, with the participation of women and the youth, in what appears to be Tinubu’s attempt to take a different tack.
He declared, “My team will publicly outline important components of our programme in the days and weeks to come. Today, allow me to briefly describe a few programmes that embody our view of progressive good governance in support of the Nigerian ideal. The simple guiding ideas for our administration are as follows:
Nigeria will be impartially governed following the law and the constitution.
We will protect the country from acts of terrorism and other criminal activity that endangers the peace and stability of our nation and our area.
“We will restructure our economy to promote growth and development by generating jobs, ensuring food security, and putting an end to extreme poverty.
“We will place a strong emphasis on women and young people in our administration.
“Our government will continue to take proactive measures, such as advocating for a credit culture to deter corruption while enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of the various anti-corruption agencies,” said the statement.
