There’s Plot To Undermine Judiciary, Atiku Alleges
Former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, has alleged that there is a plot to harass and undermine the judiciary to compromise the proceedings of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).
However, in a swift reaction, the Presidency in a statement, said that Atiku’s bid to blackmail the judiciary would fail. It noted that if the former vice president believes in democracy and the sanctity of the judiciary, as claimed, he would not engage in making spurious and wild allegations aimed at disparaging and discrediting an important arm of government that should serve as the bulwark for our democracy.
Atiku’s apprehension is coming as the PEPC moves to conclude its proceedings. A statement signed by Atiku’s media adviser, Paul Ibe, alleged that, “as proceedings on the controversial February 25 election continues at the court, there have been threats from the ruling party that aim to intimidate the judiciary from serving the duty of justice.”
The statement added: “Now, they have initiated a new plot. This time around, they want to intimidate the judges into delivering favourable judgments for them at the election tribunal. We draw the attention of the international community and, indeed, Nigerians to this fresh plot to steal the mandate of over 200 million people.
“We are also urging Nigerians to abide by the golden rule of eternal vigilance being the price of liberty.
“On this note, we appeal to all security agencies in the country to remain professional in the discharge of their duties and resist being used as an instrument of oppression and intimidation against the judiciary.”
According to Atiku, “it is regrettable that the APC and, indeed, agents of President Bola Tinubu have ceaselessly chosen to stand in the way of justice by making catastrophic threats to anarchy if justice is not served according to their whims.”
Atiku further stated that other reports in the media about some heinous plots to harass Justices sitting on the petition are ominous to the peace and security of the nation.
He noted that, “our democracy gives the people of Nigeria the powers to choose their leaders, and our laws demand that our judiciary must be allowed to act independently without harassment and intimidation by the government or powerful interests.”
“To compromise the workings of our democracy and seeking to compromise the workings of our judiciary is an open call for anarchy,” he added.
The former vice president said, “as a party in the litigation that is currently reviewing the outcome of the last presidential election, we wish to express our intentions to do all that is within the law in resisting any attempt to undermine our fragile democracy.”
He called on the international community to be on the alert just as he stressed that Nigeria’s democracy should not be undermined by using the judiciary to serve the interest of the ruling party.
Atiku recalled that in 2019, the APC-led Federal Government removed the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, when it was obvious that he would not bend to their will.
“The Department of State Services (DSS) similarly stormed the homes of judges in 2016 and 2017, all in a bid to beat the judiciary into submission.
“The plot of the APC is simple: intimidate the judiciary, threaten judges with arrest so that they will bow to their will. This is a playbook from 2019 when they removed the CJN and then replaced him with Tanko Muhammad, who himself was later accused of corruption by his colleagues at the Supreme Court and resigned shamefully,” he added.