Ejiofor
The CSOs, under the aiges of Coalition for Justice in Africa (CJA), specifically rejected the judgement of the Court of Appeal where various members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were sacked from the National Assembly on basis of pre-election matters.
The Court of Appeal in Nigeria, has come under strong critisicm by leaders of various Civil Society Groups who have converged on Abuja, on Wednesday, over recent conflicting judgements, leading to the removal of Members of the opposition from the National Assembly.
“Ironically, this played out during the Appeal Court judgment that removed from office some members of the PDP in the National Assembly. It is indeed worrisome that the judgment of the justices of the Appeal Court was in contradiction of the position of the Supreme Court.
“The implication of the decision of the Justices of the Appeal Court is that, the judgment would set a dangerous precedence and a gateway to endless litigation in the future. The wisdom of dealing with pre-election matters before polls has now been undone, with the consequence that those who contested and won political office will now be spending the time they should have committed to delivering their mandate in Court”, the Coalition said.
“We are further concerned that the Court of Appeal has wilfully decapitated the opposition in the country since fewer PDP lawmakers means the country has edged one step closer to becoming a one-party dictatorship. The few PDP lawmakers left in the National Assembly are now easier target for the ruling party should it decide clamp down on the opposition. This is a consideration our dear judicial officers should have borne in mind before reintroducing pre-election matters into post election litigation.
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