*Says Nigeria’s Democracy In Crisis As Judges, Lawmakers, Lawyers Fail The System

*Usman Tasks Politicians On Jonathan’s Democratic Sacrifice

THE presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in next year’s general elections, Peter Obi, has lamented that professors now aid electoral malpractice, lawmakers weaken electoral laws and senior lawyers defend forgery.

    Speaking on Tuesday, August 11, at this year’s Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Democracy Dialogue, in Bauchi, themed, ‘Beyond Elections: Can Political Parties and the Judiciary Save African Democracy?’ Obi bemoaned a deterioration of the Nigeria’s institutions.

    He recalled his experience challenging his election as Anambra governor, recalling that he spent three years in court and secured favourable judgments from Judges he had never met before, arguing that the independence he encountered in the judiciary at the time would be difficult to imagine in Nigeria today.

    He stated: “I was in court for three years challenging my election. Five Judges that I never met for one day gave judgment in my favour. It cannot happen in Nigeria of today.

    He stated: “I went to the Court of Appeal; five Justices I had never met gave judgment in my favour.    

    “So, if you look at that and look at what is happening today in Nigeria, where professors are now aiding illiterates to rig elections, where lawmakers have removed forgery as an offence in electoral matters and Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) are defending forgery.

    “Our religious leaders are now praying for criminal politicians for blessing. We have a crisis.”    The former Anambra State governor also alleged that some Judges have become politically aligned and are now “’singing, ‘on your mandate we stand,” saying these are signs of a wider institutional crisis that needed to be reversed.

    The NDC candidate bemoaned that institutions expected to protect democracy were increasingly being compromised, warning that the consequences of the current democratic failures could eventually be inherited by future generations.

    He charged Nigerians to look beyond political parties and individual politicians and examine the systemic weakening of the institutions that sustain democracy.

    Obi cautioned that practices tolerated today could become entrenched and eventually impose an even greater burden on younger Nigerians, adding: “We need to reverse this because the abuse we are allowing today will take its revenge on our children.”

    Also speaking at the event, National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Nenadi Usman, challenged the country’s political leaders to emulate Jonathan’s non-violent approach to power, saying the survival of Nigeria’s democracy may again depend on the willingness of politicians to put national interest above personal ambition.

    Usman said the country’s democracy survived the dire predictions surrounding the 2015 general elections because Jonathan accepted defeat and conceded to Muhammadu Buhari before the final results were fully declared, thereby it one of the most significant sacrifices made by a Nigerian leader for the preservation of democracy.

    She recalled that Jonathan had consistently maintained throughout his presidency that neither his election nor his continued stay in office was worth the blood of any Nigerian, which was eventually tested in 2015, noting: “Such a principled approach to politics had never before been witnessed on the Nigerian political horizon.”

    Ahead of next year’s election, the LP chairperson reminded politicians that the true test of democratic leadership would not only be their ability to win elections, but also their willingness to accept outcomes and protect the country when their personal ambitions are challenged.

    Usman said Nigerians were enjoying democratic continuity today because Jonathan made a sacrifice at a critical moment in the country’s history.

    She wondered whether the presidential candidate in the coming elections would be ready to make a similar sacrifice, noting: “Given the enormity of inflammatory rhetoric coming from the camps of political parties, would any of the present-day presidential candidates be capable of making such sacrifices in the interest of the nation?”

    The event, chaired by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was attended by former vice president, Namadi Sambo; Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed; former senate president, Anyim Pius Anyim; former Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang; All Progressives Congress (APC) Deputy National Chairman (South), Ben Nwoye; and Emir of Bauchi, Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu.