MC Oluomo resumes office despite court ruling

2 weeks ago

In a dramatic twist, Musiliu Akinsanya, famously known as MC Oluomo, has taken up the presidency of NURTW despite the recent court judgment that disqualifies him. This has created much stir, and people have wondered whether Nigeria is actually under the rule of law, especially in the aspect of the enforcement of court orders.

Nigerians have all clearly seen that MC Oluumo’s ascension to leadership has been far from a smooth sail. His election as the NURTW president was surrounded with criticism and accused of irregularities. Earlier, after an election that took place in Osogbo, Osun State, his presidency was contested in court. In a recent decision made by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, a ruling by the National Industrial Court that endorsed Alhaji Tajudeen Baruwa as the authentic president of the NURTW was affirmed. The appellate court’s decision was delivered by a panel of three justices: Hamma Akawu Barka, Nnamdi Okwy Dimgba, and Asmau Ojuolape Akanbi, who also insisted on grounding MC Oluomo with N100,000 for lacking merit in the appeal.

However, in this regard, MC Oluumo waved the red card by proclaiming himself as the new NURTW president, saying “no time for distractions“. The statement was made on his social media accounts, in which he declared his intentions to face all the challenges squarely and bring out changes within his time in office.

MC Oluomo

The effects that can be derived from the action of MC Olumeno are severe. This is even more so when he assumes office in total disregard of a court order and therefore issues a severe blow to the judiciary and indeed a d€ath knell to the rule of law in Nigeria. Lawyers and legal analysts, alongside human rights activists, have raised alarm at this impunity of disrespecting judges.

A Nigerian human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has demanded that the federal government reinstate Baruwa immediately, pointing to the Attorney-General of the Federation as well as the Inspector-General of Police to the judgment of the court.

The occurrence asks fundamental questions about the Nigerian legal framework. If people like MC Oluomo can contempt the court by refusing to obey a court order, then the situation in the country will not be auspicious, and therefore bad governance and a lack of respect for the rule of law will prevail. One commentator wrote, ‘Tinubu must order the immediate arrest of this th*g/infamous to*t if he (Tinubu) will not be seen as having endorsed this impunity of disobeying a court order openly.’.

This relationship between MC Oluomo and his closeness with political power, especially the president Bola Tinubu, has been the center of controversy. Some even claim that his ascendance in the NURTW is because of politics instead of democracy. In preceding comments, MC Oluomo has not been afraid to pledge allegiance to Tinubu, for he said, “I am an Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Jagaban loyalist… I wear the Jagaban jersey.”

The acceptance of MC Oluomo’s act of defying the order has been received with mixed feelings by the general public. While some of his supporters believe that he is the rightful leader, many more would consider his actions to be one of the instances of the fact that Nigeria might triumph over right. This sentiment has emerged clearly in the comment section on social media, where once a user commented, “The T#UG!fic@tion of Nigeria is in progress!

As one commentator put it, “Very soon no one will either respect or take Nigeria’s courts seriously.”