Election petition: Atiku accuses APC in election appeal of planning to influence judiciary

Atiku accuses the APC in an election appeal of planning to influence the judiciary.

Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s nominee for president in the 2023 election, has charged the APC with attempting to influence the judiciary in relation to petitions that seek to overturn the election’s results.

It comes at a time when the former vice president of Nigeria has urged both Nigerians and the world community to remain vigilant against any potential dangers to democracy.

In a statement penned by his media advisor, Mr. Paul Ibe, on Saturday, Atiku addressed these concerns as well as others.

The statement said, in part, “As judicial proceedings over the contentious election of February 25 continues, there have been threats from the ruling party that attempt to prevent the judiciary from carrying out its role of justice.

It is terrible that the APC and, in fact, Bola Tinubu’s operatives have repeatedly decided to obstruct the administration of justice by threatening to unleash disorder if their predetermined visions for justice are not carried out.

“These, along with media rumours about certain terrible conspiracies to harass justices hearing the petition, are ominous to peace and security in our country,” the author said.

Atiku went on to say that the election that resulted in Tinubu becoming president of Nigeria was the worst in recent memory, saying that he decided to contest the process since it was purportedly conducted in violation of the country’s electoral rules.

There have been terrible happenings that are upsetting to many Nigerians since the conclusion of the presidential election in February of this year and the accompanying issues in its wake.

It goes without saying that the election that installed the present administration is the worst in the history of democratic politics in our nation, despite the fact that it was anticipated to be the best ever.

As a result, Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president of Nigeria (1999–2007) and presidential candidate for the PDP and other parties in the election, has decided to take the patriotic route and challenge the results of that election. This is because the electoral umpire’s decision to declare a winner against the requirements of the law was arbitrary.

The judiciary is the sole logical choice in the pursuit of justice, and that is a given. In actuality, our judiciary has been a crucial pillar of our democratic development thus far thanks to the interpretations of our laws that it has provided.

“Our statutes are extremely clear about the requirement of separation of powers as a protection of an independent court.

“The objective underlying the concept of an independent judiciary is to protect that branch of government from unholy fraternity between its sacred members and the rest of the society, especially the political actors.

“Nigerians have the right to elect their leaders thanks to our democratic system, and our laws require that the judiciary be given the freedom to function without interference from the executive branch or other major interests.

It is an open invitation to anarchy to try to undermine the functioning of our democracy and our judicial system.

“As a party to the lawsuit that is presently examining the results of the most recent presidential election, we would want to express our intentions to do all within the bounds of the law to thwart any attempts to destabilise our precarious democracy.

In fact, we’re requesting that the international community be informed through this medium.

“Using the judiciary to further the interests of the ruling party should not be allowed to undermine Nigeria’s democracy.

Unfortunately, the All Progressives Congress now uses this tactic to threaten judges, he continued.

In support of his position on the election petition, he cited a number of instances of what he perceived to be unholy behaviour on the part of the ruling party in the past.

When it became clear that Justice Walter Onnoghen would not submit to their demands, the APC-led Federal Government similarly dismissed him in 2019.

“In a similar manner, the Department of State Services raided judges’ residences in 2016 and 2017, all in an effort to subdue the judiciary.

“The APC’s plan is straightforward: intimidate the court and threaten judges with arrest to force them to submit to their demands. This is a strategy that was employed in 2019 when the CJN was fired and Tanko Muhammad took his position. Tanko Muhammad eventually resigned in disgrace after being accused of corruption by his Supreme Court colleagues.

Despite this, the APC government never pursued Tanko Muhammad like they did in Onnoghen’s case because the matter was never about corruption but rather an election. Intimidation of judges is a reputation that the APC has developed through time. They raided the houses of roughly 10 judges, accused them of corruption, and won their suspension, but they were unable to convict even one of them. In order to avoid further disgrace, Supreme Court Justice Sylvester Ngwuta passed away while still in office.

“They have now started a fresh scheme. This time, they aim to coerce the electoral tribunal judges into handing down positive rulings in their favour.

“We bring this new scheme to steal the mandate of over 200 million people to the notice of the international community and, indeed, Nigerians.

Furthermore, we exhort Nigerians to uphold the maxim that the price of liberty is everlasting vigilance.

“On this vein, we ask to all security agencies in the nation to maintain professionalism in the performance of their duties and to reject being used as a tool of tyranny and intimidation against the courts,” the statement continued.