A civil society group, Labour Civil Society Front, has warned the judiciary that any attempt by the Judiciary to reward “unscrupulous politicians bent on imposing their self will on the people” would be an open invitation to self help and anarchy.
Addressing newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, Conveners of the group led by Olisa Agbakoba, Comrade Shehu Sani, Amb Nkoyo Toyo and Salisu Mohammed, urged the Judiciary, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the legislature and Security services, to resist any vicious and corruptive pressure from state operators and politicians insisting on taking over and controlling them.
The group said: “As affected individuals and parties resort to the court as the main conflict resolving mechanism. We hope that the judiciary, as the final Arbiter, will ensure that the malfeasances of those powerful individuals and their corrupt allies will not be rewarded but rather, they will be discredited and punished.
“It is in the light of this hope, that we are calling on all Nigerians to believe again not in INEC, not in the Executive but in the Judiciary and give the Judiciary the benefit of doubt. In the same vein, we are calling on the Justices of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court to rise up to the occasion by restoring the people’s confidence in the processes that were abused by INEC and also stem the deep decline of our democracy.
“In the meantime, we are aware that should the judiciary fail to act expeditiously, it will amount to a denial of justice and an invitation to self help and anarchy.”
While committing to ensuring political leadership was not foisted on Nigeria and Nigerians at the expense of the democratic gains made so far, they accused INEC and the various security agencies of compromising their duties at the just concluded elections.
“Nigeria suffered a monumental reversal in her electoral and democratic gains through the criminal mismanagement of the electoral process by the INEC and security agencies, who both compromised their duties and donated their power of election refereeing and law enforcement to unscrupulous politicians bent on imposing their self will over and above that of the people.”
