The National Conscience Party, NCP,
watch with amazement and utter disgust the events that unfolded within the past
days in Nigeria, though we are not in any way surprised by the turn of events.
We are not surprised because we have consistently warned of the insincerity of
this inept and pretentious APC regime and the script been played now only confirms
our position about this regime and the fact that nothing has fundamentally
changed for the better.
We cannot but condemn in the
strongest term the crudity, barbarism and hypocrisy in the arrest and detention
of five judicial officers on Saturday 8th of October 2016 by the
Department of State Security, DSS, under the instructions of the Gen Muhammadu
Buhari APC regime under the guise of fighting corruption in the judiciary. We
are not up to discuss the technicalities, the legality or illegality of the
arrest, detention, search and invasion of privacy of the persons involved, what
we considered most important is the exposure of the real intentions of this
regime based on the facts and why there is a cause for worry.
We assert that what happened over
the weekend was nothing but a deceitful adventure that has nothing to do with
really fighting corruption in the judiciary an any way, rather, it is nothing
but a plot to intimidate thejudiciary as a whole, deal brutally on some judges
that do not readily bend to this regime’s whims and caprices, create more
confusion in the public and divert attention away from the numerous shortcoming
and abysmal failures of this regime to prepare ground to install stooges or
persons who would do the bidding of this regime into the judiciary.
First, a regime that is plotting to
selloff public assets, that has refused to take action on the issue of
corruptly padded budget, that refused to do anything about the massive hunger
in the land, that has refused to act on the issue of the houses of the chief of
army staff in Dubai,that close its eyes to allegation of corruption against the
likes of Babatunde Fashola, Rotimi Amaechi or that overlooked the use over 270
million naira in cutting grass at the IDP camp just to mention a few, to our
mind does not have the moral standing to claim that it is fighting corruption
in any sector. In fact, the corruption in the presidency today is monstrous, as
scores of billionaires are been created overnight within their closed circles.
The allegations of corruption against key officers of this regime have been
mounting by the day and the regime is doing nothing about it.
In addition, the intra party
conflicts within the APC itself have further exposed the real face of this
regime.
Second, that the Nigerian judicial
system is hopelessly corrupt and for the rich, just like presidency, the
police, army, customs, immigrations, FRSC etc. is no news.The question is what
has the APC regime concretely done since it came to power to address this question,
the answer is NOTHING. The Buhari regime has no plan apart from
propaganda, cheap talk and blackmail, and it also wants to use the judiciary to
do its bidding of attacking the regime’s perceived enemies, attack agitators
and the masses. The judiciary remains the property of the super-rich under this
regime.
Third, is the fact that some of the
judges involved are the sitting judges in several legal suits involving the
government and Buhari APC interests over the past sixteen months - the Dasuki and
IPOB cases, Buhari’s certificate and affidavit saga etc. And they have been
ruling against the regime!
Fourth, is the fact that some of the
judges involved already have cases pending in the National Judicial Council,
NJC. What the law says are the primary functions of the NJC, police, EFCC and
ICPC are clear. Therefore, the use of the DSS is quite suspicious and reflects
desperation. It is nothing more than trying to intimidate.
The arguments of using the DSS don’t
add up in any way. They can be applied to justify the use of the Nigeria
Customs or the Prisons to investigate murder.
To us, when the ruling party and
elites can no longer obey their own laws, it confirms not only deep crises but
also the fact that things are bound to get worse so long they remain in power.
To us, after all the hullaballoo
around the arrest of the judges and the media drama and trial that began
immediately, one would have expected that by the following Monday or by now the
judges would have be charged to court but that is not what happened. They were
all released on personal recognition from DSS custody and as we speak there is
no evidence that they would be charged.
To us the entire episode is nothing
but a farce and a reflection that this regime is getting more desperate as it
continues to fail on all fronts. This regime wants to get more dictatorial and
fascist in order to silence to opposition and mass revolt.
We totally support the positions of
the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, and
other mass organization that are standing up to this regime. It is clear that
only mass actions can contain the numerous atrocities of this regime.
Finally, corruption in the judiciary
like in all sectors of Nigeria body polity has to be confronted, but in doing
so we cannot give blanket support to DSS or any security agency to brutalize
people unnecessarily, intimidate, violate fundamental human rights and civil
liberties, and such actions must be holistic not a witch-hunt and not partial.
One of the most fanatical supporters
of the then Ribadu-led EFCC was our founder and mentor, Chief Gani Fawehinmi,
SAM, SAN, but when the then IG, Tafa Balogun was forcefully handcuffed to the
court, Gani in an angry letter to Obasanjo on April 5,2005 said, ’It was
clearly needless and absolutely unnecessary for EFCC or the Nigeria Police to
handcuff the accused – the former Inspector General of Police in view of
section 34(1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I
personally condemn this degrading treatment….I hope that henceforth, the EFCC,
ICPC, and the Nigeria Police will respect these laws that govern the
fundamental rights of Nigerian citizen where they are accused either inside or outside
the courts’’ The EFCC subsequently apologized! We stand by this legacy
unrepentantly!!
Ayodele Akele
National General Secretary
National Conscience Party
08023276709
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