The All Progressives Congress on Thursday asked the Federal Government to order the immediate withdrawal of security agents who it claimed were blocking the resumption of the courts in Ekiti State.
The APC in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja, said the development was contrary to the directive by the National Judicial Commission, chaired by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, that the courts should re-open while the police should provide security.
The party noted that the act of deploying security agents to prevent the courts from re-opening contrary to the NJC directive, “amounts to undermining the Judiciary and the Constitution.”
According to the statement, ”The Chief Justice of Nigeria, who is the head of the Judiciary, ordered that courts in Ekiti must re-open and that security personnel should do their jobs by providing security.
“Instead, the security agents were willfully deployed to prevent the courts from opening. This violation flies in the face of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“This undemocratic encroachment and erosion portend great danger for our nation and constitute a threat to our democracy.”
The statement noted that the Presidency was not constitutionally empowered “to second guess, override or reverse the Judiciary.”
It however stated that, “our constitutional democracy recognises separation of powers, and the constitution clearly identifies the scope of each organ’s powers and the head of each branch.”
The APC noted that the police by its action was holding litigants to ransom, preventing and perverting the course of justice, and restricting access to the common man’s last hope.
The action, the party added was “tantamount to arresting a judgment, something the bar and bench consider with the utmost vile.”
The party further alleged that the federal government wanted to thwart the directives of the NJC by deploying security agents to seal the court, so that the case against the Governor-Elect, Mr. Ayo Fayose, would not be heard until he would be sworn-in. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Mr lai mohammed, what of Rivers state judiciary that your lover boy Amaechi has shut down for these past 6 months?. Have you condemned him . He who ask for equity, must come with a clean hand. mtchewww!
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