No one disputes that it is the Parliament that has the power to make laws. It is also an undisputed-able fact that the Constitution also gives the Executive the authority to exercise Presidential Powers, which historically extend to the issuance of Proclamations and other similar directives under the general rubric of Delegated Legislation in our constitutional law and practice. Our Constitu¬tion is a modern replica of the US Constitution and every American President since George Washing¬ton has used the Executive Order power in many ways.
For example, slavery was evil, an unpardonable abuse of personal liberty and cruel violation’s of human dignity. But at one time it was supported by laws; it was legal. When, however, President Lincoln wanted to abolish it, he knew that Congress, many of whose members were benefitting from the evil system, would not support him legislatively. He was actually met with vigorous juristic and political protestations by those who were benefitting from slavery but the justness and moral energy of his Proclamation was so strong that only a Congress with a suicidal disposition could have sought for a legislative reversal of the gracious Presidential Proclamation prohibiting slavery. So Lincoln, without prior Congressional authorization, successfully ended slavery in America.
The Proclamation on June 12 falls into the same constitutional bracket as President Lincoln’s Proclamation on slavery on January 1, 1863. It has to be said that the authority of a Presidential Proclamation is less than that of an Act of Parliament, to the extent that a capable Legislature can always override it legislatively but that prospect is very unlikely especially if the Proclamation is a just and popular one. The critical question now is: Is there really a legislative body in Nigeria that would be so politically irresponsible and naïve to want to reverse the presidential Proclamation on June 12?”
The Presidential accent to the June 12 law, rejecting May 29 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day has answered the poser above and it has also extinguished all doubts about the sanctity of June 12. This law, no doubt, is a small positive step in the direction of justice and a giant leap for democracy because the essence of June 12 struggle is the restoration of democracy to a once capitulated nation in the face of military tyranny. Even though we still have some shameless anti-democracy militarists in our midst, June 12 as a historical monument has come to stay as one of the major political milestones in annals of Nigeria. Long Live June 12!
