Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday, said some judgments and rulings of the court in political cases are responsible for some internal crisis rocking political parties in the country.
Speaking at the 67th birthday celebration and presentation of 50 books authored by a human rights lawyer, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN in Abuja, Jonathan expressed deep concerns about the state of the judiciary and its impact on the country’s political landscape.
Addressing the gathering, which he co-chaired and with former president, Olusegun Obasanjo as chairman, Jonathan noted that recent court judgments in political matters have thrown the country into disarray, especially the judgement that empowered a ward chairman to expel a national chairman of a political party.
“The way things are going in the country now, especially with the judgments coming from the courts on political matters, it plays democracy like a cone that has been flipped upside down. Sooner or later, it will tip over,” Jonathan warned.
He urged members of the Bar and the Bench to resist being swayed by political machinations, emphasising that some judgments could further destabilise Nigeria’s political structure.
“How can a ward chairman expel the national chairman of a party? I am not a lawyer, but I know that this cannot fly in the face of natural justice,” Jonathan stated, alluding to the legal chaos that has gripped political parties in the wake of the court judgment.
He called on the Supreme Court to revisit the decision, stressing that such decisions threaten the stability of the nation’s political system.
“When I observe how things are running in other countries, I wonder how can a sub-unit have the authority to discipline the head. This situation is against natural justice and has thrown political parties into crisis,” he said.
He appealed passionately to the judiciary to reconsider its role in shaping the nation’s political future.
Earlier in his speech, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who chaired the event, hinted that he has a lot to say about the unfolding situation in the country but suggested that the time is yet the right time to speak out fully.
Obasanjo, in his remarks described Ozekhome as an extraordinary man and a person who advocates thorough political and social change with conviction, courage and integrity.
Former chairman of the body of Benchers (BOB), Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN who reviewed the 50 books authored by Prof Mike Ozekhome said, Ozekhome is political, legal scholar, human rights activist and political commentator whose views are expressed on diverse subjects.
In his review of the books which he titled “Review Of The Corpus”, Olanipekun, ran through the various titles of Ezekhome’s 50 books,
which he grouped under four themes, ‘Rights and expectations of persons qua citizens under the constitution and the law; the Duties imposed on and expected of the government at all tiers, including those in positions of leadership, across board; Private wrongs which stand unaddressed, and Public Wrongs which continue unabated.”
In his remarks, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi urged Ozekhome and other Nigerians not to relent in efforts to build a better society.
Obi said until Nigerians jointly continue to push for what is right the country cannot be better than the current situation.
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