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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A pressure group, the South-East Pro-Democracy Advocacy Group (SPAG), Wednesday, held a rally at the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola over alleged plot to compromise the Appeal Court.
The group alleged that some powerful and desperate individuals from the Southeast are on a a vicious mission to truncate the will of the people in Imo and Abia States respectively.
In a statement co-signed by Comrade Emeka James Okosisi and Mazi Jideoffor Agwurumbaike, President and Secretary respectively, Governor Hope Uzodinma, and Minister of State Labour Nkiruka Onyejocha were fingered at the center of this plot.
According to the protesters, Uzodinma and Onyejocha are already interfering in the activities of the Election Petition Tribunal in the states.
“We are gathered here today to bring to the notice of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, President, Court of Appeal, and members of the National Judicial Council that democracy is under threat in Imo and Abia state, where Governor Hope Uzodinma and Hon Nkiruka Onyejocha have vowed to truncate the will of the people through unnecessary interference in the activities of the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in the states,” the statement said.
“They have vowed to influence the outcome of the Elections Petition Tribunal using all means necessary, including compromising the well-respected Justices of the Court of Appeal and members of the National Judicial Council.
“This is indeed a worrisome trend that has the potential to bring the judiciary to disrepute and which does not augur well for our nascent democracy. We have gathered from reliable sources that Governor Hope Uzodinma has made overtures to the respected members of the Tribunals, which resulted in judgment for his preferred candidates in the state.
“The same is applicable in Abia state where Hon Nkiruka Onyejocha, by the position she occupies as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. She has boasted to all that matters that she is connected at the federal level and would use the instrument of her office and connection in Abuja to influence the outcome at the Appeal Court.
“As stakeholders in the Nigerian project, our faith in the judiciary remains unflinching; hence, this protest rally to call on the relevant authorities to act in good faith to save democracy in Imo and Abia state.
When judges and court officials are compromised, it results in the abuse of power, and the delivery of justice is compromised. ”
The group, therefore, appealed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and other honorable members of the National Judicial Council to act in the interest of Nigerians by investigating the outcome of the Election Petition Tribunal in Imo and Abia States.
