Vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Peter Obi, has accused the federal government of intimidating the judiciary with the filing of charges against the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
He described Nigeria’s judicial system as the best among the three arms of government and warned that the country faces the risk of being doomed if it is allowed to be emasculated by any other arm of government.
in a press statement he made available to LEADERSHIP yesterday in Awka, the Anambra State through his media aide, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, Obi recalled that he was a major beneficiary of the rule of law/due process when the court declared him the winner of the governorship election when the state was under siege.
He spoke in Sagamu, Ogun State where he represented the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, at a public function.
Obi, who reacted to the on-going trial of the Onnoghen over alleged non-declaration of assets, said that every law-abiding citizen of Nigeria, including members of the judiciary, agree that nobody is above the law.
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He, however, insisted that the process of legal restitution for alleged infraction of the laws of the land must be above board.
In what he tagged “Intimidation of the Judiciary”, Obi faulted the procedure adopted by the federal government in the trial of the CJN as he queried “where is due process?”.
Obi said that the CJN’s hurried trial revealed that due process was not followed, noting that “what should be done first in such cases is to write formally to the National Judicial Council (NJC), and that was not done.”
He said: “In my view the Nigerian judiciary remains the best of the three arms of government under the present dispensation. Indeed, it has done tremendously well, and I am a celebrated beneficiary of our judicial system. It was through the courts that I secured my electoral mandate and also served my full term. It was also due process that reversed my illegal impeachment. Interestingly, a number of other public office-holders, including the incumbent chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, benefitted from that courageous precedent set by the Judiciary”.
On the way forward, Obi urged Nigerians leaders to shun the temptation of making moves or taking actions that could engender and breed anarchy in the country.
