Democracy Is Under Threat In Nigeria – Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has described the invasion of residences of five judges, including those of two Justices of the Supreme Court – Justice Walter Onnoghe (who is in line to succeed the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria) and Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, by armed men of the Department of State Services (DSS) and reported arrest as a direct assault on the judiciary.

Governor Fayose, who addressed the press in Ado- Ekiti on Saturday, said; “It should now be obvious to all Nigerians and the international community that democracy is under threat in Nigeria and Nigerians must rise to save it from being truncated.”

The governor said; “For all intent and purposes, there is no how the Federal Government can justify the Gestapo and crude action of the DSS against our judiciary, the last hope of the common man and I believe they just want to hide under anti-corruption fight to blackmail and intimidate the judiciary.

“If not, have the affected judges been reported to the National Judicial Council (NJC), the body saddled with the responsibility of investigating and sanctioning erring judges?

Were the affected judges ever invited by the DSS and they refused to honour the invitation? “I am particularly worried over the involvement of Justice Walter Onnoghen in the invasion, and I hope this is not a plot to prevent his appointment as the next CJN, just because he is from the South-South region.”

He added that, he had raised similar alarm earlier “when this regime of impunity started with the invasion of the Akwa-Ibom State Government House and later the Ekiti State House of Assembly.

I did say then that democracy in Nigeria was becoming unsafe in the hands of this APC government and that those keeping silent because of politics might also end up in the belly of the roaring lion that is threatening to consume our democracy.”

He said that by its action, “the DSS has become a threat to democracy in Nigeria, having abandoned its core mandate of providing intelligence for the protection of the internal security of Nigeria as provided in the Security Agencies Act Cap. N74 LFN, 2004. Noting that, discipline of judges falls within the duties of the National Judicial Council.

A few days ago, the NJC sacked three judges for breaching the Codes of Conduct for Judicial Officers and went further to recommend that one of them, Justice Kabiru M. Auta, be handed over to the Inspector General of Police for prosecution for alleged corruption