SAN Faults Naval Officer Over Clash With Wike

A constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Professor Sebastine Hon, has faulted the actions of a Naval Officer, A.M. Yerima, over his recent faceoff with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, describing the officer’s conduct as a clear breach of the law and an affront to civil authority.

Prof. Hon, who stated this in a statement on his X account, said the naval officer had no legal justification to obstruct the FCT Minister from accessing a parcel of land under any guise of “obeying superior orders.”

“Brushing sentiments aside, I condemn in totality the actions of the Naval Officer, A.M. Yerima, who obstructed the FCT Minister from gaining access to that parcel of land under the guise of obeying superior orders,” Hon said.

“The duty of a junior officer to obey the orders of his superior, though recognised in military circles, has its legal limits as established by the Supreme Court,” Hon said.

Citing the Supreme Court decision in Onunze vs. State (2023), the senior lawyer emphasised that the obligation to obey orders does not extend to those that are “palpably illegal or manifestly unjust.”

He quoted Justice Ogunwunmiju, JSC, who ruled that “every military or police officer swears an oath not just to obey orders, but to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

According to the senior advocate of Nigeria, any officer who carries out an illegal order becomes personally liable for the act and may face disciplinary action or a court-martial.

Prof. Hon further referenced an earlier ruling in Nigeria Air Force vs. James (2002), where the Supreme Court reaffirmed that soldiers and officers are subject to both military and civil laws and cannot hide under “illegal orders” to justify unlawful actions.

“The illegality in this case,” he noted, “stems from the fact that no service regulation allows a serving officer to mount guard at the private construction site of a superior officer. If he suspected any security risk or criminal trespass, the appropriate step would have been to involve the civil police, not to take the law into his own hands.”

The SAN also reminded the public that, by constitutional provision, the FCT Minister holds powers equivalent to those of a state governor.

He explained that under Sections 297(2) and 302 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), all lands in the FCT belong to the Federal Government, adding that the President has delegated administrative authority over such lands to the FCT Minister.

“In essence, Wike stands in the position of the President and Commander-in-Chief within the FCT in matters of land administration,” he said. “Therefore, obstructing him amounts to undermining the authority of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

While acknowledging that Wike’s style may appear “brash” to some, Prof. Hon insisted that the Minister acted within the bounds of the law, while he maintained that the officer clearly breached the Constitution and extant military regulations.

He added that Section 114 of the Armed Forces Act makes military personnel criminally liable for civil offences, including obstruction of a public officer in the discharge of lawful duties.

He stressed that celebrating the humiliation of Wike simply because he is a ‘big man’ or unpopular among some people misses the real issue.

“The real concern is that an officer of the Nigerian Armed Forces chose to undermine civil authority, a dangerous precedent that should not be encouraged,” he maintained.