As reactions from well meaning Nigerians were still trailing the
Saturday Taraba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal
judgment, a human rights group in Nigeria, the Centre for Human Rights
and Social Justice (CHRSJ) yesterday, took a swipe of the Judges of
the tribunal led by Justice Musa Danladi Abubakar that they were bias
in their ruling for going beyond their jurisdiction and gave the
petitioner what she did not request for to favour the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC).
The group stated that the outcome of the tribunal ruling has put the
integrity of the judiciary in doubt as the last hope of commoners,
saying that this one sided ruling would not stand the test of time in
the nation democratic processs, describing the Judgment as unlawful,
illegal, anathema, anti-masses, unconstitutional and invitation to
chaos in all ramifications from the masses of the State.
They added that the group (CHRSJ) would inform all its members across
the country to be prepared for national peaceful street protest to
save the hard earned nation’s democracy against undemocratic nature of
the present administration in the land so as to save the nation from
impeding political crisis that might occur as a result of judicial
collaboration with executive arm of government to subvert the will and
wish of the people in an electoral democracy.
Reacting to the tribunal Judgment through a signed statement by the
CHRSJ’s Executive Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman and a copy
was made available to newsmen in Lagos on Sunday, disclosed that “this
is another judicial recklessness of highest order” on the part of
tribunal Judges so far, calling on the democrats in the country to
join hands together to save the current democratic experiment from the
hands of those who were set to manipulate the judiciary to satisfy
their political desire.
Comrade Sulaiman insisted that the ruling of the tribunal was the
travesty and miscarriage of justice of highest order, urging the
National Judicial Council (NJC) to commence immediate investigation
into the Saturday Judgment of the Taraba State Governorship Election
Petition Tribunal and its Judges because the ruling has shown that
something is fishing somewhere.
According to him, “Following the Saturday Judgment of the Taraba State
Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which has been condemned by
all and sundry at home and abroad, because this Judgment cannot stand
the test of time for its miscarriage and this is another Judicial
recklessness of highest order since the beginning of the present
government on May 29th,2015.Nigerians will see that the Judiciary has
been the tool in the hand of ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to
wage war against the opposition in the land through miscarriage of
justice in the Court of law.
“This is high time for the apex Judicial body, National Judicial
Council(NJC) in the land to wake up from its slumber and came alive
to its duty and responsibility by saving the country from impeding
anarchy and Hobesean state of nature where lives are brutish and
short. This controversial Judgment has brought disrepute to the
judicial arm of government for turning itself to Father Christmas to
award the ruling to the ruling party on the basis of internal
arrangement of another political party”.
Sulaiman therefore urged the appellate court to reverse this travesty
of justice in order to restore the lost glory caused by the
controversial Judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in
Abuja, noting that the APC ruling government shifted the most of the
tribunals venue to Abuja, the seat of Federal government, in
collaboration with the Judiciary to influence the outcome of the
tribunal’s judgment .
CHRSJ Chief then called on the all lovers of democracy to rise up
against the undemocratic tendency of the President Muhammadu Buhari
led- Federal Government, saying that President Buhari has shown to the
people both locally and internationally that he could not be a
democrat as being claimed during the 2015 electioneering campaign.