By Ken Afor
Umar Illiya Damagum, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has accused certain power holders, known as the ‘cabal’ in Aso Rock, Nigeria’s seat of authority, of attempting to takeover the judiciary, disrupt democracy, and invalidate popular votes and the decisions of the Nigerian people.
At a press conference on Thursday in Abuja held at the headquarters of the PDP, Damagum, a former ambassador, expressed concern that the judiciary was allowing itself to be utilized to undermine democracy, blaming the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, for attempting to install a one-party rule in the country.
He expressed serious fears that the allegedly devious tactics of the APC were intended to weaken the nation’s democracy.
“Overthrow the democratic rights of Nigerians, suppress the Rule of Law and downgrade our nation to a fiefdom run by the whims of a cabal,” he added.
He said that the party on Wednesday sounded the alarm that Nigeria had begun to lean towards totalitarianism, due to the actions of those in power.
“The activities of a cabal in the presidency which is out to emasculate institutions of democracy, especially the Judiciary in the desperation to subvert and overturn the expressed Will of Nigerians in the various election matters across the country.”
According to Damagum, of particular concern is the ongoing “perverse pattern and attempts by the APC to use certain hugely compromised Electoral Petition Courts to snatch elections clearly won by the PDP and award them to the defeated candidates of the APC who were rejected by the people at the polls in most states across the country.”
His words: “The sinister agenda is tailored towards a systemic emasculation of the opposition and foisting of an oppressive one-Party system is evident in the conduct and outcome of certain election petitions in Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Delta, Ogun and other states of the nation where the Election Petition and Appeal Panels were used to rob the PDP of victory won at the polls.
“Also of serious concern is the continuing stay of the patently biased Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel sitting in Abuja despite widespread demands by the people of Plateau State and the PDP for its immediate disbandment having regards to its varying and contradictory judgments against the PDP, which are also in conflict with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act, 2022, INEC’s Guidelines and Regulations for elections.
“You will recall that on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, our Party addressed a press conference in which we alerted Nigerians of the dangerous pattern of conflicting judicial pronouncements by the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel to decimate and alter the expressed Will of the people of Plateau State in the 2023 National Assembly Elections.
“Our Party at that press conference, also raised concerns over allegations in the public domain that the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel has been hugely compromised and induced by the APC and the cabal to defy the Will of the people at the elections.
“Allegedly in the bid to assist the APC, the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel, in clear departure from well-established Judicial Precedents on matters settled by the Supreme Court, delivered varying, contradictory and conflicting judgments on election Appeals with the same subject matter, same facts, same circumstances and same applicable laws in biased judgements clearly skewed against the PDP in favour of the APC.
“Our Party exposed how, in a bizarre pattern, the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel ordered a rerun where the PDP won and the APC came third, while where the APC came second, it ordered that the Certificate of Return issued to the victorious PDP candidate be withdrawn and a new Certificate of Return be issued to the defeated APC candidate, who came second in the election.”
He pointed out that the judgments immediately heightened apprehension in the State, “being a recipe for anarchy and chaos in an already tense Plateau State.”
He asserted that the uneasiness stemmed from the PDP’s holding of Primary elections in Plateau State in harmony with the stipulations of the Electoral Act 2010, which were supervised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He stressed that, “Given the inexplicable infractions in the varying judgments and the grave tension they triggered in Plateau State, our Party, in line with the aspiration and expectation of the people of Plateau State took a firm position and demanded that the President of the Court of Appeal immediately disband the allegedly compromised Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel.
“Our Party also demanded that a new Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel be constituted to hear the remaining Appeals and that the manifestly biased and inconsistent judgments of the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel already delivered in the Appeals be subjected to judicial review.
“To this effect, I as the Acting National Chairman of the PDP addressed a Petition to the President of the Court of Appeal wherein I officially restated the findings and demands of the PDP against the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel.”
He said it’s however “curious and disturbing that up till this moment, none of the issues or demands made by the PDP has been addressed or met.
Further according to him, “The continuing stay of the Appeal Panel is clearly pitching the people against the Court and the Institution of the Judiciary. It is vexatious, inciting and amounts to snubbing an affronted and injured people and daring them to do their worst.
“The consequence is that the Judiciary is allowing itself to be seen as an institution that has no regard for the sovereignty of the people and their constitutionally guaranteed rights in an electoral process under our laws. Also, it paints the Judiciary in the image of an insensitive institution which has no respect for the Rule of Law.
“The concern and fear of all well-meaning Nigerians is that when the Court, as in this case, conducts itself as if it is not governed by Rules, it destroys the respect and confidence of the people in the judiciary and such portends a great danger for democracy, peace and tranquillity in our country.
“The PDP therefore in very strong terms again calls on the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the President of the Court of Appeal to save the situation by immediately insulating the Courts from the alleged influence of the anti-people cabal seeking to emasculate the judiciary and impose a totalitarian regime our country.
“The PDP also urges the CJN and the President of the Court of Appeal, as very experienced judicial officers, to restore confidence in the Judiciary by immediately disbanding the present Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel, set up a new Appeal Panel and subject the bias judgments by the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel to judicial review.
“This is the only way to avert the crisis in Plateau State and redeem the image of the Judiciary from further negative public commentary.”
The PDP vowed to continue exerting every effort to preserve Nigeria’s democracy, acknowledge the people’s decisions, and particularly safeguard the Judiciary’s reputation while managing electoral situations within the nation.
It would be recalled that the PDP after losing out of the 2023 presidential election headed to the courts to challenge the emergence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Despite the allegations of certificate forgery and non compliance with the electoral law in the conduct of the election by the INEC which produced President Tinubu none of their grounds were deemed substantive enough to annul the victory of the president.
