The Coalition for the Protection of Democracy (COPDEM) has cautioned lawyers representing the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Tinubu at the ongoing Presidential Election Tribunal (PEPT) not to intimidate judges or the judiciary in general.
The warning comes 48 hours after the PEPT reserved its decision on the petition brought by Labour Party (LP) Presidential candidate Peter Obi against the proclamation of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 election.
In their final written statement before the tribunal, Tinubu’s lawyers, led by Wole Olanipekun (SAN), stated that the FCT is the 37th state for election purposes and that any other interpretation would “lead to chaos, anarchy, and alteration of the very intention of the legislature.”
COPDEM, however, told media in Abuja on Thursday that Chief Olanipekun’s statement to the tribunal was a threat to justice and democracy.
The group’s spokesperson, Danjuma Garba Musa, said that Olanipekun’s submission could intimidate the Appeal Court justices hearing the case.
COPDEM, therefore, asked President Tinubu to disown and immediately dissociate himself from such anti-democratic aberrations if he was not party to it.
The group said:
The threat to the judiciary and the rule of law is a major concern in addition to the increasing public outcry over the high-handed removal of subsidy that has plunged more Nigerians into poverty.
Any threat to the judiciary is a threat to democracy, COPDEM believes in the rule of law and justice. Justice is the ultimate pillar of any democracy; it must be done and be seen to be done.
COPDEM is in support and advocates for the absolute independence and integrity of the judiciary as fundamental to the success of our democracy and for the peace and unity of Nigeria as a nation.
It is a threat to the judiciary and rule of law for a senior advocate of Nigeria to presume and invoke anarchy in Nigeria if the victory of his client Bola Tinubu is overturned by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) before the whole world.