Frontline political analyst, Mahmud Jega, has urged President Bola Tinubu to publicly condemn the attitude of some judges towards opposition political parties and Nigeria’s democracy.
He warned that Nigeria’s democracy was at risk if opposition parties were prevented from contesting the 2027 general elections.
“The growing perception that there is a coordinated effort to weaken opposition parties ahead of next year’s election is becoming undeniable,” he said, adding, “If this is allowed to happen, it could mark the beginning of the end of democracy in Nigeria.
It was important for the President as the head of the country’s most powerful institution, the Presidency, to dissociate himself from it and discourage anything that undermines democracy, he said.
Speaking on Arise Television, Jega said, “After what happened in PDP, politically it [judgement against NDC] is very significant, because unfortunately it adds to the widespread and growing perception that there is a concerted effort orchestrated by somebody to stop all the opposition parties from contesting next year’s election.
“After what happened in PDP, after what is happening in ADC now, it has come to NDC, not to talk about Labour Party, NNPP, SDPC and small party like PRP. Once it produced a presidential candidate, some people went to court and the whole matter.
“So the perception is building out there that there is a concerted effort to stop all the opposition parties from contesting the election next year. In fact, if we don’t have an opposition party, that will be like the end of democracy in Nigeria now.
“I don’t know who is behind this, but it is very important for the presidency because it is the most powerful institution in the country to distance itself and discourage what is happening.
“In 2001 when PDP was in power, and the opposition ANPP then was coming here to hold a convention in Abuja, and the convention was on Saturday, and already thousands of people were here, they had been campaigning everywhere for party offices, and then on Friday afternoon, a judge of the Abuja High Court, issued an order stopping the convention, and they all had to scatter.
“A few days later, President Obasanjo had his monthly media chat, was asked about that, he said ‘it is wicked, it is wicked, he said it thrice, that was very important.
“It was a message, a very important one. And for that reason, maybe the National Judicial Council did steps and the judge was actually either retired or sacked. It is very important that the presidency do a similar thing right now.”
