- As opposition alleges plot for one-party State
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has faulted the verdicts of most Nigerian courts on the electoral disputes, insisting that it is regrettable to have only three or five judges overturning the decisions made by millions of voters during any particular election.
Obasanjo’s comments come on the heels of claims by opposition parties that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is plotting to turn Nigeria into a one-party state going by Appeal Court rulings sacking three of their governors.
Describing the powers vested in the hands of a few judges as “totally unacceptable”, Chief Obasanjo said three or four men in the judiciary should not be given the privilege to overturn the decisions of millions who made sacrifices and investments in terms of time, energy, and resources to vote candidates of their choice.
In the wake of current Court of Appeal verdicts on the electoral disputes arising from the 2023 elections in Nigeria, the former President told participants at the high-level consultation on Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy in Africa held at Green Resort Legacy, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State, that things must change and be done differently.
Rejecting what he labeled “Cathedral pronouncements” by the judges, Obasanjo said; “I believe whatever form of democracy we have or whatever system of government we have, three or four men in the judiciary should not be able to overturn the decisions of millions that have voted.
“Now, we have to find a way to handle that. I don’t know what the way will be but, for me, I think it’s totally unacceptable that millions (of votes), maybe 10m on one side, maybe 9million on the other side. Then, you have five people sitting down, three of them agree, two disagree. And you come up and make cathedral pronouncements that cannot be changed. I believe that should not be accepted.
“How do we do it? I don’t know. But whatever form of democracy we have, we should look at how to handle this. If you say ‘go again for election,’ then, what happened to the previous election? I don’t know. So, I personally feel strongly about it. It does not matter what you say about the judiciary, but in fact, only five people or seven will sit down. If they (judges) are five, three may agree, two may not agree, and the decision of three will be final. All that you have done comes to the decision of three or decision of four.”
Only last week, three governors were sacked in separate judgments delivered by judges of the Court of Appeal, which have triggered reactions and earned the judiciary more knocks than kudos. The affected governors are Abba Kabir Yusuf in Kano; Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State; and Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) have accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of working surreptitiously to make Nigeria a one-party state with the spate of controversial judgments on governorship elections dished out by the Court of Appeal in three instances.
Consequently, the PDP has charged the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, to probe alleged public boast by leaders of the APC that they have persons in the judiciary, especially at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court to do their bidding on election cases before them.
The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said Nigerians were appalled by comments credited to an APC member of the House of Representatives, from Plateau State, Yusuf Gagdi, on the litigation over the governorship election.
“The comments by APC leaders confirm the suspicion that the ruling party has set up a special team comprising of two former governors of the APC who are also serving cabinet ministers and a prominent APC leader from the North East zone with the mandate to ensure the inducement of certain judicial officers to deliver judgments against the PDP as being witnessed in the series of biased judgments by the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel.
Also aligning himself with the PDP’s position, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, berated what he termed the “snatch, grab and run” agenda of the APC, maintaining that though democracy is essentially rooted in plurality of ideas, the opposition was being decimated by the ruling party.
Speaking through his media aide, Paul Ibe, the PDP presidential candidate alleged that the country was witnessing a situation where what the APC lost in the 2023 elections in Nasarawa, Zamfara, Kano, and Plateau states, was being delivered to them through the courts. He said it was curious that states where the courts had made “controversial declarations” were those controlled by opposition political parties.
“These are clearly ominous signs that threaten not just our faith in the electoral and judicial system but evincing that our democracy is compromised. It is also crystal clear that the ruling party will not desist from this inglorious ideology of ‘snatch, grab and run away with power.’
“It is even more worrisome that what is playing out now in the Plateau governorship election petition is a confirmation of the threat echoed by an APC lawmaker in a viral video that the ruling party will compromise the judicial process to ensure its ultimate victory in the courts. It, therefore, means that the times we are in are indeed ominous, and the journey ahead in rescuing our democracy from these buccaneering power grabbers is a long one. It also means that every man and woman of good conscience should come together for this common patriotic purpose.
“But we are not surprised by what is going on. In Lagos State where Tinubu holds sway as godfather, opposition became an anathema. Everyone including judges was forced to join his party. The few opposition members who managed to get elected were beaten to submission including at the Lagos State House of Assembly where the sole PDP member back in 2018 was suspended and arrested for gunrunning but mysteriously had the charges dropped immediately after he defected to the APC.”
For the Acting National Chairman of the NNPP, Abba Kawu Ali, the international community must support Nigeria’s multi-party democracy and stop the APC from turning the country into a one-party state.
He said at a press briefing in Abuja that for anybody to claim Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf was not a member of the NNPP at the time of the 2023 general election was the worst of mischief anyone could come up with.
This is as the Chairman of NNPP in Kano State, Hashimu Dungurawa also alleged that the recent judicial verdicts at the Appeal Court sacking a number of opposition governors were not accidental by any means.
