Punish Electoral Offenders, Edeoga Urges Tribunal Ahead Of Wednesday’s Judgement

Dr Chima Edeoga, the lead organiser, All Eyes on theJudiciary, Enugu State, says the Nigerian ‘judiciary is on trial’ ahead of verdicts of various tribunals in the aftermath of the 2023 general election.

He spoke in Enugu on Tuesday morning during a programme monitored by THE WHISTLER.

Edeoga said the ‘All Eyes on the Judiciary movement’ was a result of some perceived injustices delivered by the judiciary in the past.

He said, “We are saying that we are fed up with some judgments that emanate from our courts. The stakes are very high. The fate of over one million Nigerians is at stake. We want to tell the judiciary that any movement they make, we are watching them. That was why we wanted live transmission of tribunal proceedings so that people could see them.

“But some opinions said the justices might be put under pressure. Why didn’t they agree before to show transparency? Now they say they will transmit tomorrow’s judgement live. Some of the justices were making statements for one of the presidential candidates. Such raises the doubts of Nigerians. The judiciary should be the penultimate hope of the people. The last hope of the common man is the people.”

He said people would be satisfied if indeed right judgements were delivered.

According to him, “People are saying let the Electoral Act be seen to have been applied. It will be bad if our justice system becomes a banana republic.

“In the case of JAMB, you see how the admission body wielded its stick and got the culprit punished. If Mmesoma was punished for forgery, why won’t the same be applied to politicians that forge certificates? The judiciary is on trial. Nigerians want to know if they will pass judgements the same way they did in the past. There is a burden on them to deliver judgements according to the law.

“Judges should not be under any pressure to do the right thing. The eagle eyes of Nigerians are watching them. When you push people to the wall too much, they may turn the same way they did in Sri Lanka. People came out to vote, judges should give the right judgements. People will know and accept the verdict if it is seen to be just.”

Dr Edeoga suggested ways of making Nigeria’s electoral system better.

In his words, “Cases should be dispensed with before swearing in of elected officials so that illegal occupants would not sit on public funds to corrupt the system. Again, the institution of INEC should be looked into because a situation where INEC seems to be partisan does not help matters. Then electoral offenders should be punished to serve as a deterrent to others.”