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A coalition of some
civil society groups has warned against emerging protests trailing some
verdicts of the Supreme Court in the country. The coalition which described the
trend as “dangerous enterprise”, called for an end to the development, saying
the decisions of the nation’s apex court must be respected and abided by
parties and their supporters. The group, comprising Peoples Alliance for
Indigenous Rights, PAIR,Society for Enduring Economic Democracy, SEED,and
Initiative for Democratic Enthronement Action, IDEA,at a press conference,
Sunday,in Abuja,said it was particularly concerned on recent sponsored protests
against the judgment of the court regarding the Imo State governorship
election. National Coordinator of PAIR,Emmanuel Chukwudi,who read a
prepared text signed by Nze Chukwuma of SEED and his counterpart,Nedu
Okeke from IDEA,alleged that the intent and purpose of those fueling the
protest were “on causing public disharmony, promote dissention and
encourage rebellion against not only a duly elected government, but to also disparage,
impugn and cause the Hon. Justices of the apex court to be seen as enemies of
the people.”
“While we concede that it is within the right of those who
feel aggrieved to protest, but it has become a dangerous enterprise as these
persons have taken it upon themselves to decide what the law is,” the group
said. The prepared text given to newsmen at the media conference read
further:“We are not unmindful of the futile attempts of some individuals and
groups to pressurize the Supreme Court of Nigeria to reverse itself on its
historic judgment of January 14, 2020 which ordered the immediate swearing in
of Senator Hope Uzodinma as the legitimately elected Governor of Imo state. “It
should be stated that it is a fact that not all persons will be happy at every
judicial pronouncements, but to attempt to insist and perjure the Hon. Justices
of the apex court through deliberate blackmail, name-calling and subterfuge is
a dangerous precedent that should not be allowed to fester. “If the opposition
were to be true sports people, they should accept the decision of the Supreme
Court as final in the interest of the state they claimed to want to serve.
Since the epoch judicial reversal of the usurpation of the peoples mandate, Imo
state has remained peaceful, looking forward to progress and realizing the New
Agenda programme of His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodinma. “We will imagine
that those who claimed that they want to serve the people are intent on causing
public disharmony, promote dissention and encourage rebellion against not only
a duly elected government, but to also disparage, impugn and cause the Hon.
Justices of the apex court to be seen as enemies of the people. “There is only
one enemy-those who are funding all sorts of campaigns to smear, tarnish and
possibly overthrow social cohesion, damage economic prosperity and trample upon
the rule of law. “As the Supreme Court decides on the jejune appeal for a
review of its decision, we implore the Hon. Justices to be careful not to set a
dangerous precedent where all sorts of frivolous appeals will become the order
of the day, wasting the Court’s time, taxpayers money and weigh down the
system. “The Hon. Justices have demonstrated only a few days ago that the law
is no respecter of persons when just less than 7 hours to the swearing in of a
new Bayelsa governor, it nullified their hard earned victory.”
Source: Vanguard
