In an attempt to support their parties’ positions and outwit each other, the bickering between the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition’s People Democratic Party (PDP) might have reached a crescendo following the trial of Chief Justice of Nigerian (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over alleged breach in his asset declaration stalled on Monday.
Onnoghen’s arraignment could not hold as he was absent at the CCT’s session over improper service even as he got reprieve from the Federal High Court, Abuja, which halted his trial by the tribunal, yet the discordant tunes filled the air.
While the PDP accused President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC of desperation in the “assault” against the judiciary with the attempt to forcefully remove the Onnoghen, the ruling party charged the PDP to allow the law to take its full course in the matter ad stop exonerating the CJN.
In a statement issued by its Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP said that it was despicable that rather than retracing their steps from the ignoble act against the CJN, after the spontaneous public outrage that trailed the shameful act, the APC and the Buhari Presidency were attempting to blackmail Nigerians, who condemned the assault on the judiciary, as being sympathetic to corruption.
The party claimed that the presidency and the APC had exposed their desperation to subdue and annex the judiciary, particularly, following increasing agitations by Nigerians for the prosecution of Buhari’s cronies and APC leaders over exposed corruption.
He said: “The Buhari Presidency and APC in turning around to fight Nigerians have further exposed their desperation to replace Justice Onnoghen with a pliable CJN, who will execute their plots to use the courts to detain opposition leaders as well as vocal members of the civil society during the elections.
“It is now crystal clear to all Nigerians that apart from failing woefully in all its promises, the APC and its presidential candidate, President Buhari, are beginning to manifest their autocratic attributes.
“Furthermore, the Buhari Presidency is not only corrupt but has become an asylum for corrupt people. The PPCO therefore challenges the APC and the Buhari Presidency to name one APC member that has been investigated, prosecuted or arraigned before any court of competent jurisdiction in the last three and half years in spite of their humongous corruption.
“If for anything, President Buhari has encouraged corruption in our nation more than any president that had the privilege of governing our country.
“It is important to restate that the Buhari Presidency is now a refugee camp for known and well-advertised faces of corruption. From the factional national chairman of the APC, the co-chairman of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, the director-general of the Buhari Campaign, the zonal directors and the recent entrants from Bauchi and Gombe states, all leaders of the APC and Buhari campaign structure are all candidates of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),” the PDP alleged.
In a swift reaction, the APC insisted that the law should run its full course as regards the trial of the nation’s number one jurist (Onnoghen) at the CCT.
APC national publicity secretary, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, told a news conference on Monday in Abuja that the country’s democratic and constitutional institutions must be allowed to operate without interference and undue pressure from partisan and sundry interests as being done by the PDP and its cronies.
He stressed that, “this is the only way we can build strong and lasting institutions.
“The CJN must go through the instrumentalities of the courts, more importantly as an institution he represents. Indeed, this is the true test of our constitution, rule of law and will deepen democracy.
“Where there are contestations on institutional procedures, we must allow same institutions perform their functions unhindered, autocorrect if necessary and set good precedence on future matters,” he said.
Issa-Onilu added that it had become apparent that the PDP and its presidential candidate were facing imminent defeat in the coming elections and may be searching for some unorthodox means of forcing itself on Nigerians.
“If this were not so, the PDP should, before coming to these distracting conclusions, have taken cognisance of the facts of the allegations made against the CJN and his admission to the facts so stated.
“While we would not want to be lured into discussing issues that are before the court and for which any respectable political party hoping to hold positions of responsibility should restrain itself, we regret to suggest that the PDP has been attempting to hoodwink Nigerians into believing that there is a political motive behind the allegations against the CJN,” he said.
He added that the likely affinity between the PDP and a section of the judiciary was further accentuated by the non-appearance of Justice Onnoghen before the CCT.
Issa-Onilu, however, noted that this was in line with the suggestions made by PDP South-South governors on Sunday.
He wondered if Nigerians expected to see this as a mere coincidence and if the PDP and their governors were acting a script.
“We have also noticed the very dangerous attempt to designate the CJN’s arraignment along ethnic and religious lines thereby trying to heat up the polity by evoking primordial sentiments which would do the country no good.
“This is an ungodly ploy when we consider that the CJN was an officer of the federation rather than that of any region.
“We, therefore, urge Nigerians of good conscience to caution the PDP as the country is bigger than any political party or the interest it represents,” he said.
