The Alliance for Preservation of Democracy, on Sunday, raised the alarm over what it described as a dangerous crossroad, which erodes the values of reprieve, justice and faith in the system.
At a press conference in Abuja, Lemmy Ughegbe of Make A Difference Initiative (MAD), who spoke on behalf of the coalition, observed that judiciary is the arm of government that ordinarily should stand above the vagaries of politics and compromise.
According to him, “today, judgments are more political than judicial. Judges are ruled by fear of what could befall them if they act contrary to the famed ‘body language’ of those that wield executive powers. It is in this sense that we are concerned.
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“We challenge all Nigerians to come together and seek for ways to save the judiciary from self-destruct.”
Looking beyond the recent Supreme Court decision on 2019 Imo State governorship election, Ughegbe declared that there was a general decay in the judiciary, warning that it should be arrested for our collective good.
“It is still a waiting game to see how the Supreme Court will explain its historical ruling on the Imo gubernatorial contest owing to its obvious somersault on legal precedents it had established prior to the curious judgment of Tuesday, January 14, 2020.
“We are not unmindful that right from the moment security operatives, in Gestapo manner, laid siege to the homes of judges and thereafter the grave assault in the removal of the Justice Walter Onnoghen, judges across the country are in great peril, therefore want to pander to some interests.
“The reason is because some of them are mired in conduct unbecoming of judicial officers, therefore, susceptible to blackmail by agents of State.”
The coalition noted that judicial officers “who are already compromised should seek for penance through the NJC or come public so as to have the moral courage to deliver judgments not only according to the law but their conscience.”