Nigeria’s Membership of OIC is Illegal, HURIWA Declares

May 31, 2019

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) yesterday said that it was illegal and unconstitutional for President Muhammadu Buhari to attend a summit exclusively convoked for Islamic nations under the aegis of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.It said that Nigeria’s presence in such a body offends sections 10 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution since Nigeria is a secular or at least a multi-religious nation.

The pro-democracy and non-governmental organisation noted that the fact that the former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, who suspended the then constitution and used military fiat to railroad the country into an organisation that is fundamentally set up to protect, promote and nurture only pro-Islamic religious issues, makes it imperative that the action of enrolling Nigeria remains a nullity.

HURIWA, in a statement signed in Abuja by its National Co-ordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, added that it is contradictory that Nigeria whose grundnorm in Section 10 specifically prohibits Nigeria from doing things that promote one religion as a state religion would continue to disobey the constitution only because a military despot without regard for the constitution enrolled Nigeria as a member of OIC, makes Nigeria a laughing stock before the international community.

“We condemn the continuous patronage, attendance and participation of Nigeria in OIC when Nigeria is neither an Arab state nor is it a Muslim nation. Nigeria is made up of Muslims, Christians, Atheists and adherents of African traditional religions.”

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