The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has described the purported suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Walter Onnoghen is an act of dictatorship taken too far.
In a statement on Friday by his media office, Atiku said rejected the suspension of Onnoghen, describing it as an anti-democratic act.
President Muhammadu Buhari had, on Friday sworn in Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed as replacement for Onnoghen.
But Atiku called on Justice Onnoghen and the judiciary to resist the suspension with every legal and constitutional means that they can muster.
The statement said: “This brazen dictatorial act is the latest action in the ongoing rape of our nation’s hard-earned democracy by those who dined with anti-democratic forces.
“It’s symptomatic of the increasing desperation that President Buhari and the cabal pulling the strings have, as February 16, 2019 draws near.
“The fact that the unlawful suspension of Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen was announced just as it became public knowledge that the CJN was constituting the election petition tribunals, is not lost on discerning Nigerians and the international community.
“This act of desperation is geared towards affecting the outcome of the 2019 Presidential elections. Indeed, it is not just the CJN that has been “suspended”, it is the Nigerian Constitution that has been infracted and, in effect, suspended under the guise of the suspension of the CJN”.
Atiku noted that the case involving the legality or otherwise of the charges preferred against Justice Onnoghen is still pending in court, as it should be.
“So far, the judiciary has ruled in Justice Onnoghen’s favour. So, why not allow the court to adjudicate on the matter? What is the pressing urgency? Atiku queried.
The opposition presidential candidate called on the judiciary to unite against dictatorship.
“Do not let the Muhammadu Buhari administration divide you. Do not let this government turn you against yourselves.
“The judiciary is the last hope of the common man and the defender of our democracy.
“I also urge the international community to follow the commendable example of the United States and the United Kingdom by intervening to make those involved in this undemocratic act know that their actions will have strong consequences.”
