The popular phrase, “the more, the merrier”, may not be allowed to take its course in the 2027 general election. It appears that the opposition may not be in a healthy position to contest the election. They may just participate. They may be contending with Pharaohs that have refused to “let them go.” The parties are simply in bondage.
I am sad right now that the more we weep for the nation’s judiciary, the deeper the sector goes into heart-wrenching iniquities. A ‘kneel down” judge has just debuted in Abuja.
Nigerian opposition parties in bondage
The beauty of any football match is the action on the pitch. Fans of known football clubs are always happy watching their teams play good game on the pitch.
Allocating victories to football teams without a real contest does not excite anybody.
Those who pay so much to go watch wrestling matches only derive a sense of satisfaction when such matches really take place and the wrestlers demonstrate their skills.
Not many people will be seen around the rings, if they are told that a certain wrester had already been declared winner and that other wrestlers would not show up.
The scenario above is what is about to play out as Nigeria inches closer to the next round of general election next year.
From the look of things, the election may be the worst since the return of Nigeria to civil rule in 1999, in terms of voter turnout, apathy and outright boycott.
By all indications, it will be largely the affair of the All Progressive Congress (APC). The other 21 parties may participate but would not be contesting.
The development is very dangerous for democracy in Nigeria.
The parties can best be described as being in a catch-22 situation, which is a paradoxical no-win situation where a desired outcome is impossible to achieve due to contradictory rules, limitations, or interdependent conditions. It represents a frustrating loop, often described as “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation.
Apart from being boxed into what seems an interminable legal battles, the requirements already being rolled out by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) clearly do not favour most of the parties, especially the big three- the PDP, LP and ADC.
The once-vibrant opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has been boxed into a dangerous corner where survival is almost impossible.
The party is being torn apart to the point that a faction that is trying to salvage it is now at the mercy of the other faction that wants it dead; it is a matter of days before the final dirge is sounded for the party.
Read also: We won’t incorporate Turaki’s group into PDP caretaker committee – Wike group
The sickness that consumed PDP began in 2022 when, against the expectation of many party members and Nigerians for a candidate to emerge from the south, Atiku Abubakar had decided to pick the presidential ticket.
Again, the attitude of Aminu Tambuwal, who pretended to contest for the ticket, but withdrew at the convention ground, yielding his opportunity to Atiku, added pepper to the already petrifying sore.
Nyesom Wike, who had single-handedly funded the party after every other chieftain stayed aloof, including the governors on the platform, became infuriated, justifiably.
As if the insult was not humiliating enough, Atiku decided to pick Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate and not Wike. Do not forget that it was the indication that Atiku would stop at nothing to pick the PDP ticket that forced Peter Obi out of the party. That was why he moved into the then largely unknown Labour Party (LP).
Since after the 2023 general election, the PDP has been dying slowly. Its death was helped by the judiciary, which has not hidden its partisanship. Its series of judgments have indicated a pre-determined decision to erase the name of the party.
Wike has been the arrowhead, with many other like-minds who have unapologetically yielded themselves to do the hatchet man’s job against a party that made them whatever they have become in politics.
Today, the party is gone. The Taminu Turaki-led faction seems not to be reading the hand-writing on the wall. They are still talking about the possibility of reconciliation. The question is: reconciling with who? Do you reconcile with someone that had determined to erase the party from existence?
Wike has not hidden his mission and intention. Being fully armed by the unseen hands, he wants to ensure that the PDP is not on the ballot in 2027. Alternatively, they may, for the sake of ridicule, allow their own faction to be on the ballot just to fill the space, but no presidential candidate.
Wike is being allowed by the powers that be to stay in PDP and finish up the party before officially joining the APC.
So, anybody still hoping that the PDP would be part of the exercise in 2027 as a formidable opposition should better wake up from the hallucination.
By the same token, the Labour Party (LP) is not singing a better tune. Although the court has eventually ruled that Julius Abure has served out his tenure, recognising the Nenadi Usman’s faction, it is not yet ‘uhuru.’ It would seem that there are still some moles in the party whose job is to ensure that the party does not present a formidable threat in 2027.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is being invaded by elements suspected to be fifth columnists. One Nafiu Bala from Gombe State, appears to be playing the Wike role in the ADC. He has dragged the party to court over his expulsion from the party. The other day, Bala announced a date for congresses different from that of the David Mark-led group.
Bala’s damaging job is not surprising. He has other acolytes ostensibly detailed to rock the boat in the ADC.
It must be pointed out that as soon as political heavyweights began to flood the ADC, lots of destabilisers began to raise their ugly heads. It is believed that the crisis in the ADC is being instigated from the outside.
If what is being feared happens, the ADC may continue to be distracted with legal issues that are really weightless in the real sense of the word.
But overall, the 2027 election will not be exciting as the real players will be either disqualified, incapacitated or outright dead before the contest begins.
Justice Umar’s unprofessional anger
If a man overcomes anger, he has overcome everything. Perhaps, many innocent Nigerians are today languishing in various correctional facilities across the country simply because of the anger of the judges handling their cases.
In Nigeria, if you are a nobody, your case will also be treated like a nobody’s case. There will be no cameras to capture the proceedings. In most cases, judgment is dependent on the mood of the judges handling such cases.
Read also: Tinubu at Windsor: Nigeria seeks UK security pact to stabilise Sahel (PHOTOS)
But there are powerful individuals in society, like the crab, you cannot eat them in secret without the cracking sound being heard. This aptly captures the incident at the Federal High Court Abuja, Monday, when Omoyele Sowore was docked.
A Federal High Court Judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, in circumstances that have remained controversial, ordered Marshal Abubakar, the lead lawyer defending Sowore, to kneel down during proceeding.
The activist cum politician is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) over remarks in which he allegedly described President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a criminal.
Sowore’s lead lawyer drew the ire of the Judge when he continued to ask for a longer adjournment following the prosecution’s claim that it had closed its case. The Judge considered the continued cross-examination irritable.
This is happening at a time in Nigeria when corporal punishment in schools is no longer tolerated. Some decades back, seniors ordered their juniors to kneel down as a form of punishment. But with the passage of time, that has become obsolete and anachronistic. Even the society so abhors such punishment that anywhere such a punishment is meted out to a pupil, parents and civil society organisations (CSOs) go on rampage.
That is the animalistic behaviour Justice Umar wanted to surreptitiously sneak into the court rooms, and if he had succeeded in relaunching the barbaric code, the mercantile judges manning the nation’s courts would have adopted it to humiliate lawyers of political opponents. Don’t forget we are going into election period when all manner of drama will be playing out in courts.
In many climes, the court is considered the last hope for the common man. The expression seems not to apply in Nigeria of today. The courts appear so highly compromised that faith in the judiciary has long diminished. Justice Umar has merely confirmed this fear.
When a judge has shown outright partisanship in a case he is handling, chances for justice becomes very slim in that case.
Having shown where his interest leans on the Sowore’s case, there is every indication that Umar may have a pre-determined judgment. Too bad!
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
