Don't allow Abang and Sagay's PACAC to derail democracy – Coalition urges Nigerians

Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja division and the

Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC), led by Prof.

Itse Sagay, have been identified as threats to democracy and justice by a

pro-democracy coalition.
Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution (CDNDC), in a

statement by its Co-Convener, Mr Ariyo-Dare Atoye,  described the

activities of Abang and PACAC as capable of “derailing our hard-earned

democracy if nothing urgent is done to call them to order.”

The coalition urged Nigerians to pay close attention to how both of them

are “working together, though separately, but united by a common purpose

to destroy the opposition in order to create a fascist state that will

serve only the interest of President Mummadu Buhari.”

According to the Coalition, “If we must stand for justice and be ready to

work for the redemption of our dear nation-Nigeria, we must be bold to

speak the truth at all times, while exposing hidden threats to our

democracy and the rule of law as constituted by Justice Abang and PACAC.

“The cup of this judge is full. We urgently appeal to the National

Judicial Council (NJC) to act speedily and save our democracy from the

sting of Abang. His rulings are seen as a judicial aberration, designed to

unsettle and destroy the opposition, and by extension undermine democracy.

“We make bold to say that his rulings are now pre-empted by the ordinary

man on the street and they have become a national concern to all

Nigerians. The NJC is free to sample the general opinions of Nigerians

about Justice Abang's rulings which unarguably are received with disgust

across all divides.
“Unfortunately, the people now easily joke with his rulings as a black

market purchases: 'I can always get my ruling from Justice Abang even if

it is 3am ,' is now the normal joke in public political talks, which has

now brought the judiciary to ridicule.”
On PACAC, the coalition said: “We have closely monitored the activities of

Prof. Sagay and his anti-democratic PACAC, and we can confidently say that

the committee is a legal wing of a fascist state, constituted to

manipulate our legal jurisprudence to advance dictatorship.

“Sagay and his PACAC's defence of the wicked, mindless and demonic

invasion of the residences of some judges and their barbaric abduction,

which is nothing but a coup against the independence of the judiciary,

have now confirmed our suspicion that the group is out to subvert

democracy.
“We must never allow PACAC and some celebrated 1990s human rights

community who have now been bought over by this government to do hatchet

jobs; to derail our democracy earned with blood, tears, pains and the

sheer-will of Nigerians.”
While admitting that there is corruption in the judiciary which must be

tackled within the ambience of our laws and a possible amendment of the

laws if there is any lacuna, the Coalition, observed that “if the

executive had embarked on internal cleansing and conducted ten per cent of

self-review in the judiciary in the last 16 months, over 60 per cent of

our corruption concerns would have been solved.”
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