The All Progressives Congress (APC) has reiterated its earlier call for
\nthe arrest and prosecution of Ekiti Governor-elect Ayodele Fayose for
\nleading a band of thugs to attack Justice Adeyeye on the premises of the
\nState High Court on Sept. 25th, warning that failure to act decisively now
\nwould spell danger for Judges and the nation’s democracy.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued in London on Thursday by its National Publicity
\nSecretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the issue of the security
\nof Judges and the unfettered administrative of justice transcends
\npolitics, hence no politician, no matter his status, must be allowed to go
\nscot-free after attacking Judges<\/p>\n
It said any delay in taking action will see Fayose assume office, meaning
\nhe can no longer be arrested and prosecuted for what is an egregious
\ncontempt of court.<\/p>\n
APC said the attack on Judges in Ekiti has also reinforced the call in
\nsome quarters, on the basis of constitutional provisions, to subject
\ncandidates seeking political offices in the country to psychiatric tests,
\nto prevent people with mental imbalance from taking over the affairs of
\nstate<\/p>\n
The party said those who are trivializing the issue and trying to play
\ndirty politics with it should take a moment to think of what Fayose will
\ndo to the Judges whom he led thugs to beat up, when he assumed office as
\nGovernor of the state.<\/p>\n
”Now that the Chief Judge of Ekiti has confirmed, in a petition to the
\nNational Judicial Council (NJC), that Fayose was complicit in the attack,
\nthe NJC should treat the issue expeditiously by taking a decisive action
\nthat will make it very costly for anyone to ever attack a Judge again. The
\nneed to act is urgent so that no Judge gets killed simply because some
\npowerful personality does not like his or her ruling.<\/p>\n
”Had the relevant authorities acted with dispatch when another court in
\nthe same state was invaded by pro-Fayose thugs earlier the same week, the
\nattack on Justice Adeyeye would have been averted,” it said.<\/p>\n
APC said no decent society will tolerate attack on Judges, which is not
\njust a threat to the administration of justice but also a clear and
\npresent danger to democracy itself<\/p>\n
The party recalled that not even during the chaotic political crisis in
\nthe then Western region, which earned it the tag ‘Wild Wild West’, were
\nJudges beaten up like Fayose and his thugs did in Ekiti.<\/p>\n
”Only in Idi Amin’s Uganda can one recall, in recent memory, that this
\nkind of attack happened. In 1972, the Ugandan Chief Justice was murdered
\nby Idi Amin’s agents, after the then President publicly criticized the
\nJudge’s ruling. Later, the President of the country’s Industrial Courts
\nwas also killed why lawyers were routinely beaten up.<\/p>\n
”We do not want the buffoons who have found themselves in power in Ekiti
\nand elsewhere in Nigeria to take us to those days of buffoonery, days of
\nanarchy as witnessed in Uganda and elsewhere,” it said.<\/p>\n
APC also called on the Inspector-General of Police to sanction the
\npolicemen who stood idly by as thugs were attacking Judges, lawyers,
\nlitigants and others, saying the police must always carry out its
\nconstitutional duties no matter which politician is flouting the law.<\/p>\n
The party also appealed to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to take the
\nlead in ensuring that those behind the senseless attack on Judges in Ekiti
\nare made to face the full wrath of the law, irrespective of their status
\nin the society.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has reiterated its earlier call for the arrest and prosecution of Ekiti Governor-elect Ayodele Fayose for leading a band of thugs to attack Justice Adeyeye…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n