Senator Alex Kadiri has called on Nigerians not to blame the judges that gave verdict in the petitions filed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi.
Kadiri said some Nigerians heap all the blame of perceived compromised judgements on the Justices of the Court of Appeal when the system has made it difficult for them to carry out their duties.
The senator who represented Kogi East from 1999- 2003 queried the situation whereby the Nigerian justice system is structured in such a way that the cart is put before the horse whereby the winner of an election is sworn in before the election petition cases are determined.
“I have no confidence in what the tribunals have done, not because I believe in the theory that they were bribed, since I have no proof, but the truth is that the judges were put in a very perplex situation where they now have to judge and remove a sitting President or a sitting governor.
“Like in Kenya where Uhuru Kenyata can be removed by a tribunal, Nigerians are not that honest.
“A president Tinubu was declared winner, he was sworn in, and moved into the presidential villa. He has appointed service chiefs, he has nominated the ministers they have been screened by the Senate and have been sworn in, then you assemble five judges to see whether or not he ought to be president? We are asking for too much, why are we pretending?” he said.
To overcome that problem, Kadiri advised the National Assembly to amend the constitution and the Electoral Law.
“All election petitions should be resolved before anybody is sworn in as either President or vice President, Senator, governor and all the rest.
“Nobody must be put in a situation where he will have the upper hand in determining the outcome of any election petition tribunal. Like I said, if you are one of these judges sitting with lawyers all saying the same thing.
“The man you are discussing has already been sworn in and he has taken the oath of office. He has started making contacts with world leaders, he had spoken to Joe Biden, to many western world leaders, all African leaders and he has even been made the chairman of ECOWAS and was threatening to take war to Niger Republic and then you put five judges there that his election was fraudulent and therefore he is going to be removed?
“So, we are expecting too much from these judges. All cases about election should be terminated, all the final matters about the elections should be fully settled before any person is sworn into any office at any level. That is when we will know whether the judges are independent or not, whether they are corrupt or not,” he said.
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