On Monday, about 1000 protesters went the Supreme Court to express their discontent with the Court of Appeal in Abuja’s decision to remove four members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from the National Assembly in Plateau State due to a pre-election dispute.
Under the auspices of the Coalition for Justice in Africa, protestors delivered a letter of protest to Nigeria’s Chief Justice, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.
According to the demonstrators, the appellate court violated the wishes of Plateau state voters when it certified candidates who lost the National Assembly elections on February 25 as victors of legislative seats.
Speaking to reporters shortly after the protest letter was filed to the CJN, Dr. Daniel Okwa, National President of the CJA, stated that the appellate court’s decision was susceptible of triggering a breakdown in law and order in the state.
He stated that the group was petitioning the Supreme Court for the intervention of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, saying that the decisions that removed all of the PDP federal MPs were influenced by some top leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
The protest letter, which was obtained by Clusterchannel, read in part: “The Coalition for Truth and Justice believes that the judgment of the Appeal Court in Abuja is a case of injustice, else, how could one explain a situation where lawmakers of the All Progressive Congress (APC) would boast and predict the outcome of the Court of Appeal judgment even before the pronouncement.
“This is unacceptable and indicates that the justice regime in Nigeria has been thrown to the dogs. What happened in Plateau State is an aberration of immeasurable proportion. There is a distinction between a pre-election matter and a post-election matter.
“The Supreme Court has established this fact on several occasions. It is now a wonder why the Appeal Court would act otherwise and in a despicable manner that tends to truncate our nascent democracy.
“The Coalition for Truth and Justice entirely condemns the actions of the justices of the Appeal Court that sat in Abuja. They displayed insensitivity to the electoral choices of the people. This is a worrisome trend that the Chief Justice of Nigeria must address.
“This is on the heels that the Judiciary, the world over, is regarded as the last hope of the commoner. This presupposes that it is the only place the commoner can get justice. The function of the Judiciary is not to twist the truth or fabricate facts but to interpret the law. The consequence of the interpretation of the law is justice.
“However, what played out in Plateau state negates the Judiciary’s position as the common’s last hope. The Judiciary is for sale to the highest bidder in Nigeria, if such positions could be taken without recourse to the implication of such on the psychological state of the people.
“The Coalition for Truth and Justice is using this protest to drive the point that justice in Nigeria should not be reserved for a section of the country or any political party. What happened in Plateau should not be allowed to stand or repeat itself. The implication of such is that the reputation of the judicial arm of government would be eroded.”
It will be recalled that the appellate court had on November 7, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel led by Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu, okayed the nullification of the election of a Senator and three members of the House of Representatives in the state that emerged on the platform of the PDP.
The panel based its decision on failure of the PDP to fully comply with a court that was made in 2022, which it said directed the party to conduct congress in the 17 Local Government Areas in the state.
It, therefore, held that though the lawmakers won their respective seats during the National Assembly election that held on February 25, all the scores that were credited them, amounted to wasted votes.
It ordered that candidates that got the second majority lawful votes at the election, should be sworn in as winners of the legislative seats.
