PDP chieftain reiterates Atiku is in court to ensure ‘the sanctify of facts and justice’ is upheld in Nigeria
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Atiku Abubakar went to the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to expose the alleged criminal enterprise of Bola Tinubu and get him fired from Aso Rock in order to strengthen and build up democracy in Nigeria, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has explained.
Segun Sowunmi, former Ogun PDP governorship aspirant, stressed in Abuja that, as a democrat, Atiku will always stick to the tenets of democracy hinged on constitutional order and the rule of law.
He urged the judiciary to uphold the time-tested principle of respect for the sanctity of facts and justice is done and also seen to be done.
“Atiku has done no harm; he is a democrat. The only thing Atiku has done is that he has chosen to remain a democrat,” Sowunmi said.
“You know those who don’t care if the heavens fall while they are in opposition, [but the reason why he is] not doing it, as they did, is because he is a democrat.
“The entire world and even the ancestors that have gone are eagerly awaiting this [PEPC] judgment.
“Sometimes, the judiciary has a mediating responsibility to stabilise the society. However, the judiciary cannot stabilise the society against the perception by the generality of the people of that society.
“If it is the general opinion of the people that something is fundamentally wrong, the judiciary has to let the society understand that it is not called the last bastion of all persons for no reason.”
Sowunmi reflected on the disruption of democratic order in some African countries over the past few years, and stressed society must expect a reaction anytime the will of the people is usurped by powerful forces.
“We should let the judiciary know that if democracy is failing all around us in Mali, Niger Republic, Burkina Faso, and Guinea, among others, it is because people are beginning to feel that there is no rescue anywhere for their will.”
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Enduring hardship cannot cure illegality
“Normally, it is the judiciary that is supposed to rescue the will of the people.
“We must remember that national cohesion is better than performance sometimes because you cannot perform at the expense of the critical stakeholders of the Nigerian project,” Sowunmi added, per Vanguard.
“We need to remind our society that this country became independent on the backbone of three persons – South-Western man, the Hausa-Fulani man and an Igbo man.
“You cannot be telling the society to endure when you have not cured illegality. Young people have the oxymoron, ‘eyes on the judiciary’, but the truth of the matter is that the judiciary is not immune from what is going on in the society.
“Wives and children of judicial officers are not immune from what is going on in the society. Sometimes, the will of the people is by extension the will of God.
“The only thing they [Judges] can do not to stand against God is to rule in the best interest of their conscience and the mortality of their judgment because it will be quoted over time.
“The entire world is looking at Nigeria and they are not going to be ashamed to do the right thing. If democracy fails, we can patch it up with the judiciary but if the judiciary fails, that society has failed.”
