By Valentine Amanze
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised the alarm that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government was ridiculing the judiciary for selfish reasons.
It alleged that the Buhari Presidency was
plotting to destabilize and annex the judiciary ahead of the 2019
general elections.
The Director, Media and Publicity PDP Presidential Campaign Organization, Kola Ologbondiyan, also said that the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the cabal at the Buhari Presidency were hounding Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, and seeking his removal to
cause a constitutional crisis, instill fear in judicial officers and pave the way for the foisting of a pliable CJN that would do their bidding on
electoral matters.
To return to power in 2019, the main opposition party accused the APC of seeking a new CJN that would aid its rigging schemes as well as execute the plot to use the court to detain and put opposition members and outspoken members of Civil Society Organizations out of circulation during the general elections.
The PDP however warned that if the trend was not reversed now it would breed anarchy.
“This development is a clear recipe for anarchy and a huge crisis that is capable of fracturing our justice system and derail our democracy as it
portends a prelude to a total clampdown on institutions of democracy
and rule of law in our country,” it said.
The PDP therefore appealed to Nigerians, the United Nations and all international bodies to unite in the defence of the nation’s democracy.
The PDP said that if President Buhari was committed to cleaning up the system as he claimed, “We challenge him to allow the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, whose tenure has expired and who had also been rejected by Nigerians due to his manifest partisanship, to go.”
The opposition party also urged Buhari to ask Amina Zakari to recuse herself from INEC following her rejection by Nigerians over issues of impropriety in
her appointment as Chairperson of the Presidential election collation
committee.
“Furthermore, we challenge Mr. President to commence plans for the
immediate prosecution of members of his campaign organization, including his co-Chairman, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the factional National Chairman of his APC, Adams Oshiomhole, over allegations of corruption against them,” the party said.
Meanwhile, South-South Governors’ Forum has scheduled an emergence meeting today to deliberate on the removal of Justice Onnoghen by the Federal Government.
Onnoghen hails from the South-South (Bayelsa State). It would be recalled that the Presidency was reluctant to confirm his appointment when he emerged as the leader of the nation’s judiciary.
