NLC tells election tribunal Judges, don’t compromise; alerts on ‘Hall of Shame’
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Judges on election petitions tribunals have been urged by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to stop compromising themselves with bribes from politicians and instead use the latest season of election disputes to redeem their battered image, per Vanguard.
NLC President Joe Ajaero gave the advice in Abuja at a news conference organised by the Labour and Civil Society Movement Front (LCSMF).
He warned Labour and the civil society movement may establish a ‘Hall of Shame’ emblazoned with the names of corrupt Judges.
Ajaero expressed the growing concern of Nigerians that the election petitions tribunals have yet to commence sitting on the petitions from aggrieved candidates.
His words: “We identify with all the views expressed here because we believe that the mission is geared towards rescuing Nigeria and rescuing the judiciary as the latter is clearly down.
“The judiciary has set many states and institutions on fire. The judiciary has set Imo State on fire and up till now, people are wondering how a person who was not a candidate of his party be declared the Governor?
“The judiciary has so many questions to answer. If they fail to answer those questions within a short time, we would create a Hall of Shame for those judges that come up with some judgments, and that could happen soon.”
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Speak out now, or never
Ajaero stressed the need for the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and all other arms of the judiciary to speak out on what is happening in the judiciary, as Nigerians are wondering if the judiciary is still the last hope of the common man.
“Now the destiny of the country hangs on them. It is either they fulfill the role of being the last hope of the common man or they betray it.”
In his view, the “go to court” slogan of shady characters is shameful, because “when people tell you to go to court, they are telling you that that’s the end of the matter.”
All hands must be on deck to rescue the judiciary, Ajaero counselled.
“The NLC identifies with this body not necessarily on political basis but in order to rescue this country. You can see the youths struggling these days to see whether they can make any impact.
“You can see that there’s a gulf between those in government and the youth. There is no connection anywhere. There is no hope for the youths, so it is time to look at it. There is just no hope politically.
“What hope do they have that when they compete their studies, they will get jobs. What is the number of vacancies declared annually?
“How many people graduate from our schools? What percentage of them gets employed? So the time to rescue Nigeria is now,”
LCSMF Convener Nkoyo Toyo added the ripples from the 2023 election are worrisome and frightening.
She stressed that architects of the current democratic dispensation watch with utter astonishment how the processes and procedures meant to consolidate 24 years of democratic wins have been greatly eroded in the 2023 election cycle.
“This dark cloud of angst arising from a terribly mismanaged 2023 general elections has jolted the confidence and hope of many Nigerians, thus propelling us as ‘Citizens of Conscience’ to take the bold step of beginning to resist and mitigate the intended and unintended crisis looming over our dear country,” Nkoyo said.
“We condemn the outright manipulation of the electoral process and abdication of responsibility by INEC as it has destroyed trust in the democratic process.”