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Former Deputy National Chairman of the People’ s Democratic Party, Chief Olabode George, has voiced significant concerns regarding the role of the judiciary in determining election outcomes in Nigeria. He perceives this as a process that diminishes the people’ s right to decide the winners of elections and expressed his reservations during a press briefing held at his office in Ikoyi, PUNCH reports.
George’ s apprehensions stem from the recent announcement by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja that it would render its judgment on Wednesday. At the core of his concern is the judiciary’ s practice of declaring election winners, rather than mandating the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh elections in order to facilitate the emergence of genuine victors.
In his address during the briefing, George emphasized the need for introspection about the state of Nigeria’ s electoral process. Drawing from his extensive experience as both a former military officer and a civilian who has served under five presidents, he labeled the country’ s electoral system as disorganized and counterproductive, asserting that it has led the nation down a perilous path. He attributed many of these issues to systemic manipulation.
George decried what he regarded as an inexcusable glitch on the day of the election, contrasting it with the prior assurance from the INEC chairman that they were well- prepared. He contended that this kind of situation would not be forgiven by future generations.
A focal point of George’ s critique was the state of the judiciary in Nigeria. He highlighted that the judiciary is one of the fundamental pillars of government in a democracy. George questioned whether the current role of the judiciary aligns with democratic principles, asserting that democracy should be characterized by a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. In contrast, he raised concerns that Nigeria appears to be drifting towards a system where the judiciary determines the government rather than the people themselves.
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