It was a great surprise to me when I heard
that the Supreme Court upheld the victory of ‘Goodluck’ Ebele Jonathan ,
surprised , not because General Muhammadu Buhari ‘s case was thrown out, but
because it was a unanimous decision by the seven seated Justices of the Supreme
Court. To me, it was a new vista in the dispensation of judgment. To the
observers, it looks like the easiest judgment ever given by the Supreme Court in
Presidential Election matters when compared to 2003(5 against 2), 2007( 4
against 3).In the case of 2011 elections, it was 7 against 0.For me it was not
what I expected and it saddened my heart, that , the rigging and fraud
perpetrated in the 2011 election by PDP was ‘canonized ‘ by the high priests in the temple of justice.
I felt something was wrong because the rigging in the South-South and South -East
were too glaring to be ignored. I said to myself “...it is a bad day in the struggle for the
liberation of Nigeria…” I wept in my heart because I thought the Supreme Court
would have saved us from a further 42 months of clueless leadership under a President
that has become impotent in might, sterile in courage and bereft of ideas-uninspiring
in persuasion and low in common sense. I felt that the Justices of the Supreme
Court would be the thermostat that would reverse the political trajectory from heading
for anarchy.
As the thoughts of my heart troubled me, I
could not imagine what went wrong. In as much as our judicial system is deeply
seated and soiled in corruption where justice has become a commodity with a tag
for the highest bidder, I knew it was almost impossible to have all seven
Justices ‘compromised. For me, considering the avalanche of evidences CPC had
to prosecute the case, it was inconceivable that 7 learned and seasoned Judges
could unanimously vote in one direction. So I wondered, pondered and reasoned
within myself
In the crossfire of my thoughts, I realized
that the injustice was actually done at the Presidential Election Tribunal (PET),
were the case was castrated before it started, when Hon Justice Salami was sent
on an unrequested sabbatical to pave way for the bribing of the Oracle. I
realized that the case was decided when
Justice Salami was ‘set up’ and ‘eased out’ temporarily so that a group of
Vultures would replace him.
Salami on may 24th ordered that
access to biometric database be given so that forensic analysis could be done
on the bailout papers to prove the case, to determine the veracity of PDP’s
victory.PDP and Jonathan had tried all they could to block this, but Salami ,
determined to ensure that the case was
subjected to a transparent legal scrutiny ordered that access be given to CPC’s
forensic experts in the presence of INEC and PDP’s experts.PDP and Jonathan,
knowing that the game was up, and could not survive the cleansing effect of
such scrutiny , quickly ‘cooked up’ charges against Salami; the stage was set
and Salami was removed.
Having removed Salami, a new panel was reconstituted,
with a mandate to ensure a predetermined end. In a shameful way, the newly
reconstituted Presidential Election Tribunal on the September 7, 2011 reversed
and contradicted itself when it claimed access to biometric database meant
anything other than access to biometric data. This was a ridiculous moment, a
comical representation of the judicial system, and one of the final fatal stabs
to Nigeria’s already comatose judicial caricature. At that point I knew the
case was lost because the only means of proving the fraud had been thrown out.
The decision of the Presidential Election Tribunal to deny CPC access to
biometric database for forensic analysis was the nail that destroyed the CPC’s case.
The reasons for the denial were quite ludicrous and ridiculous. INEC and PDP
had propounded the theory that access to such would be ‘a threat to National
security’- I was appalled that Justices of the Appeal Court could become so
warped in thinking, and convoluted in reasoning .It was one of the saddest days
in Nigeria Judicial chronicle.
One mistake, which became a fatal one,
which CPC made, was that they did not appeal this preposterous ruling of the
Presidential Election Tribunal. I expected them to have challenged it at the Supreme Court, the refusal of the PET
to allow them access to the biometric database .Knowing well that only access to the biometric database
could ensure proving their case, they
should have tested the strength of that decision at the Supreme Court. Lo, they did not, and
that became their undoing.
PDP, emboldened by the fraudulent decision
of the Presidential Election Tribunal knew that CPC would not be able to prove
their case without access to the biometric analysis, became very comfortable,
and knew the Supreme Court would not be able to say otherwise
CPC, with a whittle down case approached
the Supreme Court, with the prayer that the Supreme Court reconstitute a new Presidential Election Tribunal to re-hear the
case based on the short-comings of the
first PET. One had expected that the Supreme Court would have been more discreet
in hearing the case and analyze it, so to ensure that justice would be served ,
but to my surprise , they made their decision based on what the Appeal Court
had done .It is very difficult to cry foul at the Supreme Court , since the case was already ‘Dead on
Arrival’ based on the abomination
committed at the Presidential Election Tribunal. By a unanimous decision at the
Supreme Court, it means one of the two –either all the seven Supreme Court
Justices were compromised (something PDP and Jonathan can do, have done in the
past and have the finesse at doing, but which is rare) or the case as presented
by CPC was Dead on Arrival (based on the judicial castration of the case at the
PET). A combination of the two would be a judicial hara-kiri
For me, it is a sad day in the history of
Nigeria, because the courts (Appeal and Supreme) have succeeded in giving a
moral boost to electoral robbery, aided by criminally minded attorneys. By this
singular action of the Presidential Election Tribunal in denying access to
biometric database, a bad precedent has been laid, which future electoral
robbers will hide under when they execute their criminality.
Finally, the Courts, instead of being
vehicle of truth and justice, by seeking ways of exposing fraud and electoral crime,
have become the vanguard of electoral malfeasance and a custodian of electoral iniquity.
Henceforth, except there is concerted effort at ‘sanctifying’ the temple of
justice and ensuring that the priests and the Oracle are not commoditized ,paying
appropriate propitiations for the
twisted and warp judgments, then Nigeria should forget free, fair and credible elections.
If elections cannot be subjected to infallible scrutiny like forensic scrutiny
due to judicial albatross, placed by obstructive priests, then Nigeria can just
forget wasting money conducting election
The victory may have been given to Jonathan
because he has all the paraphernalia of office and resources, but there remain
a judgment of conscience among the people, piercing even the hearts of the
culprits .With this judgments, it has become evident that our Courts do not
have the courage to raise up against executive intimidation, and for now cannot
be said to be a ‘hope for the common man’. It has shown that it is a cosmetic
institution with learned men in wigs that cannot executive judgment when might
is involved. It further places our democracy at the precipice of collapse. I
feel that Justice was denied in this case, and was willfully done. Just like
Gen. Muhammadu ri(GCFR) said, we leave justice for God.The ruling of the
Supreme Cour lacked judiciary content and was politically motivated-a shame on
our institution of justice.We pray that the justice and judgement of God in
this case will be done in our life time, and all will see that it was done.God
bless Nigeria
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