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INEC, judiciary rotten – Obasanjo *Courts of justice now courts of corruption
Olusegun Obasanjo, has painted a damning picture on the Nigerian judiciary, saying it has been so compromised that what used to be courts of justice had now become courts of corruption, where judicial verdicts were now open to the highest bidder.
The situation, he said in his new book, Past and Future, published by OOPL under the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, while bemoaning what he referred to as the “steady decline of the judiciary’s integrity,” steadily undermining developments in the country.
Part of the book read: “The reputation of the Nigerian judiciary has steadily gone down from the four eras up till today. The rapidity of the precipitous fall, particularly in the Fourth Republic, is lamentable.
“The great fear of most well-meaning Nigerians and good friends of Nigeria is that where ‘justice’ is only available to the highest bidder, despair, anarchy, and violence would substitute justice, order, and hope. I went to a state in the North about ten years after I left public office. Next to the government guest house was a line of six duplex buildings. The governor pointed to the buildings and stated that they belonged to a judge who put them up from the money he made from being the chairman of election tribunals.”
Obasanjo, Nigeria’s longest serving leader, who spent a cumulative 11 years in office – three as a military Head of State and eight as a civilan President, had no kind words for Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who he accused of undermining the electoral process under his tenure.
His words: “No wonder politicians do not put much confidence in an election which the INEC of Professor Mahmood Yakubu polluted and grossly undermined to make a charade. Most politicians believe in the will of the tribunal judges, court of appeal judges and supreme court judges.
“No matter what the will of the people may be, the Chairman of INEC since after the 2015 election had made his will greater and more important than the will of the people. And worse still is the will of the judges – two out of three, three out of five corruptly overriding the will of millions of voters.”
Also carpeting the late Muhammadu Buhari, another leader, who also became President of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023, after an initial stint as military Head of State from 1983 to 1985, Obasanjo accused him of colluding with the judiciary during his election cases.
He said: “Buhari threw caution to the wind, no matter what had transpired between him and the judges who did his bidding. In his election cases, financially, he topped it up with appointments for them no matter their age and their ranks. After a false declaration of results, making losers winners and winners losers, the victim of the cheating is advised to go to court, which is a court of corruption rather than a court of justice.”
“Criminals cannot chase us out of our communities. We are the owners of the towns, and we will not allow that to happen. We have to take back our homes and our communities. That is why I am here to tell you that all of us will take back our communities.”
These were the words of Olatunji Disu, Inspector-General of Police (IGP), on Monday, with which unfolded his plans for a safer Nigeria, one of which was to reclaim communities overrun by bandits across Nigeria.
Disu, appointed last week as the 23rd IG of Nigeria, spoke in Ilorin, Kwara State, where he went on a working visit, where he promised to do everything possible, both operationally and administratively, to restore peace in communities affected by banditry and criminal attacks.
The police boss, who spoke to officers and men of the Kwara State Police Command while assuring that the police would not allow criminals to take control of communities, stressed that he was familiar with the security challenges facing the state adding that his visit was partly to encourage police personnel engaged in ongoing operations against bandits.
His words “I know Kwara State and the problems we are having. I am in the state for an operation. I have come to say thank you for everything you have been doing to assist us, but at the same time I want to ask for more cooperation.”
Expressing delight at the support the police had received from the state government, especially from AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the governor, Disu, he explained that he had since conveyed his sentiments to the governor.
His words: “I have visited Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and thanked him. He has been very wonderful by providing a lot of things to support the police command.
“I urge the residents to cooperate with security agencies by providing useful information that could help combat criminal activities. I say with all authority that we have a lot of Fulani people assisting us in doing our job. I want to give you my word that I will look into the welfare of policemen.”
Godswill Akpabio, Senate President, on Sunday, sent a special message to Nigerian women, thanking them for the resilience and sacrifices in raising a society of great men and women, of which he counts himself part of.
Akpabi, who used the occasion of this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) to express his sentiments, conveyed through Eseme Eyiboh, his spokesman praised them declared that he was a practical example of the beneficiary of the wonders of women, as the best gift God has given man.
Eyiboh, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, quoted his boss as saying: “Today, I join the globe to celebrate our mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, colleagues, and friends who wake up each day and work to make the world a better place. Your relentless efforts can never go unnoticed.
“I am the biggest beneficiary of the love, care, compassion and sacrifice of a woman. My mother gave her all to raise me up to become what I am today. I remain ever grateful and appreciative of what our women and mothers go through in raising their children, supporting the family and building societies.
“I congratulate the Nigerian Woman on the auspicious occasion of this year’s International Women’s Day. I respect and cherish your strength, resilience and invaluable contributions to our nation. As a legislature and in consonance with the theme of this year’s celebration, “Give and Gain”, we are committed to pushing for robust investment in our womenfolk in all spheres of life, especially female participation in the economic and political processes of our nation.
“On behalf of my family, constituents, the Senate and 10th National Assembly, I congratulate all women and wish all our mothers, sisters, daughters and aunties a blessed and peaceful celebration. May your efforts never go in vain.”
For Daniel Bwala, it was somewhat the biblical story of Daniel in the den of lions being replicated in modern days, as he climbed the hot seat in the studios of Aljazeera for what could be described as his testiest media encounter just yet.
At the popular Head to Head encounter, an audience participation encounter on the global television channel, Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, was confronted with statements he made in the past against his boss, which he roundly denied at the most.
Confronted by Mehdi Hasan, the anchor of the programme, the presidential spokesman, who had gone to the station to further sell the Tinubu government to the global community, flatly denied calling the President a corrupt man, an anti-democrat and a killer, all pointing to claims he made as an opposition spokesman.
Titled: Nigeria: ‘Renewed Hope’ or ‘Hopelessness’? Hasan loaded with a surfeit of Bwala’s comments, which he constantly read from, for instance, wanted to know if it was not the same Bwala who linked his boss with forming a militia in Nigeria to win election.
The encounter went thus:
Hassan: “Tinubu and his people created a militia! You said those words.
Bwala: “Tinubu and his people didn’t create a militia. That’s that.
Hasan: Then why did you say they did on January second 2023?
Bwala: I never said that!
Hasan: Does he have a militia that tried to kill you?
Bwala: He never had. I never said he tried to kill me!
Hasan, quoting Bwala: I, myself has received a threat from him and his camp!
Bwala: I never said that.
Hasan: You said it was so corrupt – the 2023 election – Tinubu’s win – you said you couldn’t eat food for three days!
Bwala (chuckling): I never said that! Where?
Bwala also denied saying that the bullion vans that went into Tinubu’s Bourdillon home in Ikoyi Lagos, in 2019, questioned whether those who reported the movement claimed they saw money inside the van.
Hasan: Was there no money in the bullion vans?
Bwala: How am I to know?
Hasan: You said there was money in the van at the time. February 2023?
Bwala: I never said that.
On insecurity, the Aljazeera anchor also took the presidential spokesman through the route of documented evidence, citing groups like Amnsty International (AI), citing the damning situation in the country.
Hasan: Amnesty International says you’re failing in insecurity. The numbers don’t lie.
Bwala: It’s unfortunate and as a government working day and night to redeem the bad situation.
Hasan: And it’s getting worse.
Bwala: I don’t agree to the fact that it’s getting worse
Hasan: How can it not get worse when more people die in one year than the previous year?
Bwala: Context matters
Hasan: What’s the context?
Bwala: The context is that it’s not getting worse. The context is that it’s not getting worse – you see, this is water – lifting a glass of water – if you have the water half, you could say half-glass filled or half-empty. Isn’t it right?
So, the Western media always see Nigeria, Africa and some of the activities in Africa as half-empty! But we see it as half-full, because when we look at it and when I say context matters, before the President took the oath of office, we knew the situation in Nigeria.
Hasan: And you made it worse?
Bwala: When he made the decision to take bold steps to put Nigeria in better trajectory, we were well aware it was going to be difficult.
Prepare to return home, IG-Disu tells Nigerians in IDPs
IWD: You’re the best, Akpabio greets mothers *Hails virtues of resilience, sacrifices
Bwala at Aljazeera: I never said Tinubu was corrupt! Excerpts of interview
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