Former President Goodluck Jonathan has blamed the Judiciary for the crises rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Jonathan made the call in Abuja, while delivering his speech at the 67th Birthday celebration and 50 Books Presentation of Prof Mike Ozekhome, SAN.
Citing the judgment on the suspension and expulsion of a PDP National Chairman, the former president stressed that some of the verdicts of the judiciary are capable of creating troubles that threaten the nation’s democracy.
He claimed that the foundation of the current political crisis rocking major political parties was laid on a judgement where the court held that a “ward can expel a national chairman.”
Jonathan said, “The way things are going in this country, especially listening to the judgments being given regarding political cases, we are beginning to see that democracy in Nigeria is like a cone that is being turned upside down.
“And if a cone is turned upside down, it cannot be stable and at the slightest perturbation, it will fall.
“When I listened to some senior lawyers like Olisa Agbakoba making comments on some Supreme Court’s judgments, I felt very sad that the country has got to that level.
“If our democracy will endure, people, both at the Bar and the Bench, should not be carried away by political influence. That is the only way we can stabilise the political process.
“I know that lawyers enjoy because after elections there is always an avalanche of litigation. It is usually like Christmas season for lawyers.
“In most other countries, people hardly go to court, but in Nigeria, pre and post-election matters fill all the courts. These do not give a good sign for democracy.
“Comparing Nigeria to other African countries and those outside Africa, gives a lot of worries because I have been able to get involved in their electoral processes.
“There is a particular judgment that has been haunting me and I need to mention that, luckily, I am not a lawyer, I am saying that from a layman’s view, it (the judgment) simply turned the cone upside down and if the courts don’t look back into this case, it will create so much instability in the political system that it would affect all of us.
“Those who would have succeeded, their victory song will not last long, because we will all be victims.
“Where the court says a Ward chairman can expel a national chairman of a political party is worrisome. This is not in line with natural justice.
“The law is to control human behaviour and human behaviour must follow how God created systems.
“You cannot tell me that the Head of Department in a university, for example, can expel a Vice-Chancellor. So, how can the Nigerian law tell me that a ward chairman can expel a national officer of a political party?
“And, since that judgment has been given, as of today, it has created all kinds of instability in the party. PDP is in crisis because of that judgment. APC(All Progressives Congress), at the time, was in crisis because of that kind of judgment.
“I am not looking at it from a legal perspective, because I don’t know anything about the law. I look at it based on how nature works,
“I have never seen a system where its sub-unit can discipline the top.
“In the constitution of the PDP, if you are a national officer, even your state cannot discipline you, much less a ward officer, who is not even a member of the NEC (National Executive Committee).
“Are we saying that a ward chairman of a party can suspend and expel the national chairman of a political party?
“I am pleading with the Supreme Court to revisit that judgment because it has turned the cone upside down. The political process and our democracy are wobbling.”
