State Legislature Press Releases
Atiku Abubakar’s attempt to blackmail the judiciary will fail
We read the absurd and childish statements made by the former Vice President and HDP Presidential Candidate Haji Atiku Abubakar in the last election.
Apparently the ex-Vice President has not fully recovered from the shock of his defeat after being utterly defeated by the ACP and the current President, Bora Ahmed Thinu, so now he is trying to mischievously whip up another round of nonsense that defies basic logic and rational thinking.
In this ill-conceived and illogical statement, Haji Atiku accused the current APC government of conspiring to undermine the judiciary without providing any evidence. Aside from the innuendo, innuendo and outright lies contained in the aforementioned press statement, former Vice President Atiku has not presented any convincing arguments to support his claims about how President Thienub’s government and APC are trying to weaken, weaken and damage the judiciary.
If the former Vice President believed in the sanctity of democracy and the judiciary as he claims, he would not have made false and insane allegations designed to demean and discredit a vital branch of government that is supposed to be the bastion of our democracy.
Despite being a party to a presidential election petitions court case, he has shamelessly used this cheap tactic to intimidate and blackmail the judiciary.
It can be said that in Nigeria’s struggle for democracy and democratic ideals, the rule of law and judicial independence, President Bora Tiinub stands above Atiku Abubakar. President Thienub, who was governor of Lagos state under the central government of the People’s Democratic Party from 1999 to 2007, spearheaded opposition to weakening the judiciary and promoted the sanctity of the rule of law as a cornerstone of good governance, Haji Atiku was nowhere to be seen.
President Tinu’s success in legally and judicially challenging the many harsh and repugnant decisions of the PDP-led federal government that trampled on the rights of the states as units of the federation is well documented and deserves his eternal praise. Lagos state, under then-governor Thinu, won 13 cases in the Supreme Court against the Central Hydra-led PDP government.
A leader like President Tinub, with such pure and enviable credentials as a defender of the rule of law and judicial independence, would never consider undermining the judiciary as Haji Atiku has alleged.
President Tinu won free, fair and credible elections. He was elected in the February 25, 2023 presidential election, Nigeria’s most transparent election since 1999.
President Tinu and the NPC have absolutely no reason to sabotage the judiciary in hopes of obtaining a favorable verdict.
His attorneys and APC’s attorneys provided a very strong defense of the election results, and we are confident that the judiciary will fairly rule based on legal opinion and evidence, not self-righteous speculation and baseless allegations.
Atiku Abubakar deserves enough credit as a politician that the judiciary can carry out its sacred duties without harassment and resort to self-help. It is dishonest, disgraceful and inappropriate for the former vice president of Nigeria to seek to discredit an important national institution for selfish political purposes. This despair must stop.
Dele Arak
special adviser to the president
Special Responsibilities, Communications and Strategy
July 22, 2023
