How The Fear Of ICC Made Jonathan To Concede Defeat In 2015 - Femi Falana

In a statement made available to journalists on Monday, human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), said the real reason former President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat in 2015, was because of the arrest and prosecution warning issued by the International Criminal Court ahead of the elections.

 

According to PUNCH, Falana said prior to the elections, ICC had warned that should there be any violence and crimes against humanity, any leader responsible would be arrested and prosecuted the same way the ex-President of Cote d’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo, was prosecuted.

 

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria made the disclosure at the inauguration of the League of Anambra Professionals Legal Defence Initiative, held in Lagos over the weekend.

 

The lawyer who said further that for fear of ICC, no Nigerian leader dared annul election again like a former Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), did in 1993, added that the fear that President Muhammadu Buhari might be unwilling to leave office if he should lose next year’s election.

 

Falana said, “Unlike in 1993 when the military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, successfully annulled an election, that is no longer possible.

 

Falana said he decided to speak on the issue in order to assure Nigerians that election could no longer be annulled in Nigeria, adding that it was important because of the fear that had been expressed that if Buhari lost election, he might not want to hand over.

 

“That belongs to the past,” he declared.