‘All Eyes On Judiciary’ Billboards: You Are Exhibiting Dictatorship, CSOs Carpet Tinubu

A cross section of civil society organisations, CSOs, on Wednesday condemned the removal of ‘All Eyes on the Judiciary’ advertisement billboards across the country terming it an “act of dictatorship.”

The leaders of CSOs, who spoke with THE WHISTLER separately argued that the makers of the billboards committed no offence for erecting them.

Recall the billboards were erected ahead of the verdict of the Presidential Election Tribunal on separate petitions filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and Allied Peoples Movement (APM) to nullify the election of President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 General Elections.

The tribunal has reserved judgement in the petitions and is expected to soon announce its decision.

The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) ordered the removal of the billboards on Tuesday.

Director-General of ARCON, Olalekan Fadolapo, also announced the dissolution of the secretariat of the Advertising Standard Panel (ASP), the body which approved the erection of the billboards.

The ARCON director-general, who said the ASP erred in approving the billboards, also disclosed that the director, and deputy director regulations, of the council have been suspended until the conclusion of an investigation into the matter.

“The advertisement is considered blackmail against the Nigerian Judiciary, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, and particularly the Honourable Justices of the Tribunal who are expected to discharge their judicial functions without fear or favour over a matter that is currently jus pendis,” the statement released by ARCON to order the dismantling of the billboards, and dissolution of the secretariat of the ASP, said.

However, reacting to the development, Eze Onyekpere, Executive Director of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), told THE WHISTLER that those who took the decision to remove the billboards are afraid because they have something to hide.

“Only the guilty are afraid. Considering the magnitude of the crisis that was occasioned by the election earlier this year and the fact that most of the election results are being challenged in court, and Nigerians are hoping that the judiciary should give them justice, the question is “Are all Nigerians’ eyes not on the judiciary?”

“Those billboards are just stating the obvious. It is only people who have things to hide that are not happy,” he said.

Onyekpere insisted that there was nothing wrong with the billboards.

“Those who put up the billboard, what offence did they commit? There is a right to free speech in Nigeria and it is protected by the constitution.

“The persons who put up the billboards are known. If there is any offence they committed they should be charged to court, let’s see what the courts will say.”

He expressed concerns that Nigerians are gradually being subjected to dictatorship.

“It is a dictatorship for anybody to tell us what we should read and what we should not read.

“Dictatorship is slowly creeping in and those who have things to hide are not happy that we say all eyes are on the judiciary,” he observed.

But he noted that Nigerians who are keeping their eyes on the judiciary are not deterred by the removal of the billboards.

“If you go to Whatsapp, if you go to Twitter, if you go to Facebook, a lot of Nigerians are now putting up the message on their own, since you have demolished their billboards.

“The judiciary needs to be reminded that all eyes are on them.

“It is only the guilty that are afraid of transparency and being reminded of their responsibilities.”

Auwal Rafsanjani, Chairman of the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), also condemned the removal of the billboards in an interview with this paper.

Rafsanjani, who is equally the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC), noted that the removal of the billboards mirrored what happened before the 2023 general elections, when some opposition political parties were not granted permission to hold their campaigns and mount billboards in some parts of the country.

“It is in furtherance of that intolerance that we are seeing this clampdown on people who are trying to remind the judiciary that Nigerians and indeed the international community are watching what they will do,” he said, adding that the attitude undermines freedom of expression and sustainability of democratic governance.

“It is unfortunate that those who claim to be restoring democracy are themselves undemocratic and very hostile to people who have different opinions on national issues,” Rafsanjani noted, making reference to the Tinubu administration’s push to restore democracy in Niger Republic, where military officers seized power after overthrowing the elected government.

Also speaking, Emmanuel Onwubiko, National Coordinator of Human Rights Writ­ers Association of Ni­geria (HURIWA) said the removal of the billboards is a sign that Nigeria is sliding into dictatorship.

“Apart from showing that Nigeria is sliding into dictatorship, it is an abuse of the constitutional right to freedom of speech and it is also a violation of Section 15(5) of the Constitution which says it is absolutely illegal for the government to engage in abuse of power and corruption. This is corruption in its highest form,” Onwubiko declared.

He suggested that President Bola Tinubu was behind the order for immediate removal of the billboards.

“I think it is quite unfortunate that the President had to go low to the level of ordering the removal of the billboards that were duly approved by the constituted authority and the government had to even go as far as disbanding the panel that oversees advertisements.

“Why is the executive jittery that Nigerians are putting lawful pressure on the judiciary to live up to expected standards?

“People are not saying the judiciary should write the judgement in favour of anybody. Active citizens of Nigeria are putting an eye on the performance of the judiciary, just as they put an eye on the performance of the President. This is a dictatorship,” Onwubiko further declared.

He expressed fears that the government will soon start clamping down on citizens for expressing their opinion on the performance of the executive.