Judiciary Is The Bigges Threat To Nigeria’s Democracy – Atiku

By Bala Yunusa

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar has claimed that the judiciary is the biggest threat to Nigeria’s democracy.

He spoke on Monday in Abuja, as a panellist at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA), and the National Peace Committee (NPC).

The politician was among the discussants in the paper titled “Party Politics and Political Integrity: The Role of Political Parties and Opposition in Democracy” presented by Prof. Bayo Olukoshi.

According to him, the reforms to curb judicial recklessness have yielded no result.

“That must change. The same judiciary that affirmed the primacy of parties in choosing their candidates and leaders now sanctions and indeed promotes the destruction of parties by a few, and in some cases, a single individual with a personal agenda.

“The judiciary also seems to have replaced the voters in choosing our leaders. The involvement of the judiciary in electoral disputes was intended to affirm the choice of voters.

“But the judiciary, even at the highest levels, twists and contorts to find technicalities to deny voters their choice rather than affirming the voters’ choices.

“I know enough of history to understand that when democracy dies, the judiciary and its leadership do not necessarily survive intact.

“The judiciary survived the implosion or death of our First Republic democracy mainly due to the presence of strong independent justices. It wasn’t for want of trying.

“However, as the corruption of every facet of our society deepened, the judiciary soon followed. And it is, perhaps, the most dangerous because there is nowhere else for the aggrieved to turn to,” he said.

He alleged that there was no one to check the excesses of the other branches of government.

“If the rot in our judiciary persists without severe consequence for the perpetrators, our parties and our democracy are unlikely to survive.”

He argued that Nigeria’s democracy is at a crossroads.

“Put simply, it is at the risk of eroding completely. And it is not caused by one single person or one single administration.

“In fact, a number of us have been warning over the years that we may come to this pass if we lose our vigilance and fail to take corrective actions to protect and deepen our democracy,” he said.

He alleged that no other leader has been at the forefront of promoting democracy as much as he does.

He said “At the risk of sounding modest, I doubt that there are many contemporary senior political leaders who have spoken out and done more to promote democratic governance in our country than me. In addition to public statements and presentations, I brought some actions to our courts which produced landmark judicial decisions intended to uphold democratic principles and practices.

“Some of that effort was thrust upon me by circumstances of political struggles. But much of my effort was because of two things: my participation among other leaders in the struggles to ease the military out of power; and my deep and enduring belief that democracy is the best route to development and unity for our diverse country and peoples.”

But in a swift response, Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary of APC revealed in a statement made avaliable to TOTORI NEWS, informed that Atiku’s political desperation is responsible for PDP’S castastrophic disintegration.

“The former Vice President and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, like a badly broken record, has continued to point fingers at the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the festering rot in his party, and the spectacular dysfunction of opposition parties generally.

“At the national conference on Strengthening Democracy in Nigeria held in Abuja on Monday, January 27, 2025, Atiku, warned that the nation’s democracy was somewhat imperiled by judicial involvement in electoral matters. Also, without a shred of evidence, Atiku alleged that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was paying certain opposition leaders a whooping 50 Million Naira each to discombobulate opposition parties in the country.

“It was in the Atiku era as Vice President, particularly in 2003 and 2007, that the PDP conducted the worst elections in our political history. We cannot possibly forget how Atiku’s PDP heavy-handedly captured most South-West states and vowed to remain in power for 60 years. It was in those same years that Atiku’s former boss and then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, infamously described election as a “do or die affair” in a desperate attempt to annex Lagos. If democracy was neither derailed nor endangered in those perilous days, is it now that elections are by far freer, fairer and more credible that Nigeria risks losing democracy?

“The judicial branch of government is a constitutional creation like the executive and legislative branches with its constitutionally defined powers to adjudicate disputes among citizens and between citizens and the state. Atiku cannot wish away or seek to abolish enshrined power of the courts to intervene in civil disputes, including electoral disputes, in cases where the authority of the court is validly invoked by a litigant.

“It is a thing of irony that Atiku, who is Nigeria’s most prolific electoral litigator, would make such a ludicrous claim that judicial involvement in electoral matters is a threat to democracy. His criticism of the courts and the electoral process rings hollow given his long history of using the courts to further his political agenda. It’s time for him to take a step back and let the democratic process unfold without his interference.

“Nigeria’s democracy is far stronger than Atiku’s political ambitions. We deserve better than petty politicking and alarmist rhetoric from an elder statesman. As a veteran politician, one would expect Atiku to understand that while democracy may be about winning election, it is, more importantly, about respecting the will of the electorate and working towards the greater good of all. Atiku should focus on rebuilding his party and offering constructive solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.

“Atiku’s allegation that the APC-led administration was paying out 50 Million Naira to some opposition figures is simply bogus and laughable. Atiku knows that his political desperation is responsible for the PDP’s catastrophic disintegration. Peddling rumors and unsubstantiated allegations should be beneath anyone in the standing of an elder statesman, a former Vice President and a serial contestant for the exalted office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The bizarre suggestion by opposition figures like Atiku, Peter Obi, and recently, aggrieved leaders like Mallam Nasir El-Rufai that our great Party may be complicit in the internal corrosion of opposition parties is pitiful, and only an incompetent alibi for their crass failure to manage their own affairs. They cannot govern their parties but tout their ability to govern Africa’s most populous country.

As discerning citizens, Nigerians know better than to be distracted by the false alarm and hollow allegations of desperate politicians whose only goal is shore up their political relevance in the build up to 2027 general elections.