Adebanjo to FG: You can’t declare ‘Amotekun’ illegal… there are similar outfits in the north

Ayo Adebanjo, a leader of Afenifere, Yoruba socio-political organisation, says the federal government has no right to declare Amotekun, a south-west security outfit, as illegal.

On Tuesday, Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, declared Amotekun as illegal, saying security remains the exclusive preserve of the federal government.

But in an interview with TheCable, Adebanjo said the AGF has no right to make such pronouncement.

The elder statesman said the federal government ought to have gone to the court if it had anything against the outfit.

He said similar civilian organisations are operating in the north, wondering why the one in the south is considered illegal.

“He (Malami) has no right to declare the authority of state governments as illegal. If it is illegal, he should take them to court and beg the court to declare it illegal under the constitution of the country. He has no authority to do so at all,” he said.

“Civilian organisations in Kano and other places in the north, they are not illegal, how are they now illegal in the south? For me I am not surprised, any dictatorial tendency from the federal government is welcomed because I have predicted it so they are only confirming all that I have said about Buhari’s dictatorial tendency.

“The judiciary is established to adjudicate between persons and between governments. I have said it before that this is not a government of the people, it is the military government of the north by Buhari. It is a dictatorship per se.”