REVIEW PANEL ON EKITI JUDGEMENT 'LL DESTABILISE JUDICIARY, POLITY -ACN

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has warned that the panel set up to reviewThe Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has warned that the panel set up to review the Court of Appeal judgement on the Ekiti governorship election can only achieve one aim – to discredit the judiciary and destabilise the polity.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party therefore called on all believers in the rule of law to intervene to stop what had now become a circus show, simply because some honest and courageous judges dared to rule against the PDP.

It recalled that on the basis of a petition by the former governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Segun Oni, the NJC had set up a panel of enquiry that absolved the former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, of any wrongdoing.

'The questions then are: What do those who instigated the set up of the review panel on the Ekiti judgement want to achieve? Is there a precedent in this regard? Does it mean that once a litigant is dissatisfied with any judgement, even at the Supreme Court, he can get such a ruling to be reviewed once he has the 'right' connections? At the time the judgement was given, was the Court of Appeal not the final court in the governorship election petition? And what will the new panel say that the NJC has not said?' ACN queried.

The party said it was particularly worried that while Oni may be the face of this unprecedented assault on the judiciary, he was a mere puppet in a bigger circus show, and the puppeteers were the PDP and the Federal Government.

'Last week, we had a reason to warn against what seems to be a calculated attempt to destroy the judiciary, an institution that has been built over the years, just because the PDP lost two governorship seats in Ekiti and Osun. We are compelled to issue the same warning now over the panel set up to review the Court of Appeal judgement in Ekiti.

'The fact that the PDP lost the governorship in two states where it was found to have stolen the people's mandate is not a licence for the party and its powerful backers to bring down the roof and to seek to destroy the careers of forthright judges.

'Honestly, we at the ACN are not really bothered about Oni. But our real concern are Oni's masters, his puppeteers who are hell bent on using him to humiliate judges who will not do their bidding, and then destroy the judiciary in the process. This is why we are crying out now,' ACN said.

The party said Nigeria was bigger than any individual or political party, and must not be destroyed so that an out-of-control but 'well-connected' party can keep a stolen mandate.

the Court of Appeal judgement on the Ekiti governorship election can only achieve one aim – to discredit the judiciary and destabilise the polity.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party therefore called on all believers in the rule of law to intervene to stop what had now become a circus show, simply because some honest and courageous judges dared to rule against the PDP.

It recalled that on the basis of a petition by the former governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Segun Oni, the NJC had set up a panel of enquiry that absolved the former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, of any wrongdoing.

'The questions then are: What do those who instigated the set up of the review panel on the Ekiti judgement want to achieve? Is there a precedent in this regard? Does it mean that once a litigant is dissatisfied with any judgement, even at the Supreme Court, he can get such a ruling to be reviewed once he has the 'right' connections? At the time the judgement was given, was the Court of Appeal not the final court in the governorship election petition? And what will the new panel say that the NJC has not said?' ACN queried.

The party said it was particularly worried that while Oni may be the face of this unprecedented assault on the judiciary, he was a mere puppet in a bigger circus show, and the puppeteers were the PDP and the Federal Government.

'Last week, we had a reason to warn against what seems to be a calculated attempt to destroy the judiciary, an institution that has been built over the years, just because the PDP lost two governorship seats in Ekiti and Osun. We are compelled to issue the same warning now over the panel set up to review the Court of Appeal judgement in Ekiti.

'The fact that the PDP lost the governorship in two states where it was found to have stolen the people's mandate is not a licence for the party and its powerful backers to bring down the roof and to seek to destroy the careers of forthright judges.

'Honestly, we at the ACN are not really bothered about Oni. But our real concern are Oni's masters, his puppeteers who are hell bent on using him to humiliate judges who will not do their bidding, and then destroy the judiciary in the process. This is why we are crying out now,' ACN said.

The party said Nigeria was bigger than any individual or political party, and must not be destroyed so that an out-of-control but 'well-connected' party can keep a stolen mandate.