The National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus has accused the Presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of plotting to destroy the judiciary ahead of the 2019 general election.
The reaction came following the plan by the Federal Government to arraign the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen on Monday, January 14 before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), in Abuja on charges of failures to declare his assets, Secondus, who reacted to the development in Plateau State during the PDP presidential campaign rally Saturday, said the move was to force the CJN to resign and put in place a lame duck jurist that would do its bidding.
The National Chairman said there would be dire consequences if the election is rigged by the ruling party.
He traced previous failed attempts by the government to move against opposition politicians and the National Assembly leadership, even as he expressed concern that the present administration is already setting a bad precedent.
His words: “Buhari and APC want to destroy Nigeria. They started with the politicians and moved to the Legislature. You are aware that there was a coup d’etat at the National Assembly. That one failed. Now their target is to destroy the Judiciary, the last hope of the common man. I want to tell you, you must rise to this occasion to resist Buhari and APC. Because they have destroyed the economy, no food on our table. There is hunger in the land. They have started killing upon killing our people. Atiku is coming to stop the killing. Atiku will provide food on the table for the people. Atiku will provide employment for all of you.”
According to Secondus, “I want to let you know and the international community that Buhari wants to destroy the Judiciary. APC wants to destroy the Judiciary. We must resist them. 30 days to the election, that is the time they want to destroy the Judiciary. This never happened in Congo or Venezuela. But we promise them if they want crisis, they will see it. But by the grace of God, we are peace-loving people of Nigeria. We want peace but they want crisis. Because they want to rig the election. And they don’t want a Judiciary that will stand their rigging. It will not work.
“And you must be strong and be ready on that day to defend your country. It is not a matter for PDP. It is a matter for the entire nation. After all in Jos here, there was genocide and they want to kill Dino but they will not succeed. They want to kill the Senate President but they will not succeed, they want to kill all of us but they will not succeed”.
In his reaction, Mike Ozekhome, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who also is a constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, accused the Federal Government of engaging in unnecessary political witch-hunt.
Ozekhome insisted that the six-count criminal charge FG entered against the CJN over his alleged failure to declare his assets was politically-motivated, querying the time the alleged infractions were discovered. Noting that the CJN, by virtue of his position, will play a major role in constituting the 2019 presidential election petition tribunal, He insisted that under the 1999 constitution, as amended, Justice Onnoghen could not be forced to vacate his office, until when his guilt is established. According to him, “The CJN can be removed from office either if he has been convicted or if under section 291 of the constitution, the Senate affirms a request by the President to remove him by two-third majority vote.
“Our system of justice being Anglo-Saxon based, which is accusatorial, meaning that the innocence of a person is presumed. “It is different from the criminal justice system of the French model which is inquisitorial, wherein the guilt of an accused person is presumed. “This doctrine has been encapsulated in section 36 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, that the person’s innocence is presumed until he has been proven guilty. “Assuming for example that Senator Bukola Saraki had been forced to resign his office when charges were brought against him before the same Code of Conduct Tribunal almost three years ago, what would have happened and what would have been his fate when the Supreme Court eventually discharged and acquitted him of the charge, following judgments and earlier order of the Court of Appeal and the Code of Conduct Tribunal itself? “If you ask me, I sense serious political undertones oozing from this so-called imminent arraignment of the noble CJN. Question, when did they discover the alleged offence for which they now want to charge him on Monday?
“Was it just yesterday, was it last week, two weeks or six months ago? The CJN has been in office now for well over one year, how come that this misconduct or whatever offence that he is being alleged, was not seen up to now? “How come, that it is just less than 40 days to the 2019 Presidential election, when the CJN is going to play the major role in constituting the Presidential election petition tribunal, that he is being moved against? Who is afraid of the Judiciary? Who is afraid of Justice Onnoghen and his impartiality and straightforwardness?
“How come we are reducing governance in Nigeria to one of impunity, one of despotism and one of absolutism. “Don’t this people know that the world is laughing at us?”
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
