By Bisi Oladele, Ibadan
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has accused Governor Seyi Makinde of repressing opposition parties by limiting the judiciary from performing its duties.
The party in a statement by the Caretaker Chairman, Chief Akin Oke, accused the governor of refusing to set up election petition panel on the recent local government election, after using hoodlums to prevent the APC from seeking redress in court for its alleged exclusion in the exercise.
It said the governor was taking steps to frustrate the judiciary from discharging its duties as enshrined in the constitution. The APC accused Makinde of executive lawlessness, dangerous politicking and moral indecency, particularly as it concerns
“his culpability in the total shut down of courts so that no aggrieved parties will be able to get justice on account of the many foul conducts perpetrated by him and his party (PDP) before, during and after the sham called council election, notwithstanding the fact that prospective litigants have a specific time frame to exercise their rights.
” It added: ”Apart from the fact that Governor Makinde has been found to be among the caucus of governors who do not want autonomy for the judiciary and local government tier in the country, we have established the fact that he is surreptitiously doing everything to ensure that the current industrial action embarked on by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) continues for as long as possible for his own selfish reasons.
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”Our experience of May 20 was better imagined, as it played out that a governor could use foul means to stop an opposition party from filing a case against him and his party in a democracy. For the record, it was the judiciary workers that embarked on industrial action and not judges and lawyers. So, we sought and got a legitimate avenue to file a case before the relevant court on the fateful day, but Governor Makinde furtively mobilised some hoodlums to the premises of the state High Court on Ring Road, Ibadan and decorated them as JUSUN members.
“These political thugs, drawn from a section of commercial drivers’ union in charge of his illegal Park Management System (PMS), harassed and chased away our team of lawyers, who had visited the court to do their lawful business. The thugs remained at the court arena until the dead of the night on that Thursday and as if this was not enough, Governor Makinde declared a public holiday for an election, which had been made a PDP versus PDP affair even before it was conducted. These steps were taken to ensure that the time available for us to seek legal redress was wasted.
“More frustrating now is the deliberate incapacitation of the chief justice of the state to constitute and inaugurate Election Petition Tribunal for the purpose of entertaining litigation, which may arise from the May 22 council poll. Governor Makinde has not deemed it necessary to release required fund to the relevant officials and institutions because he must act to help his people imposed as chairmen and councillors to hold on to their pyrrhic victory for as long as possible.
”For Governor Makinde, the next thing after successfully reducing the legislative arm to a mere puppet was to incapacitate the judiciary and then make himself a civilian autocrat in a constitutional democracy.
However, it is pertinent to draw the attention of the striking workers to review their action and consider the fact that those responsible for their agitation are turning out to be beneficiaries of their protests. We implore them to resume duties and re-strategise so that they don’t deny the common man the justice deserved in the face of executive recklessness. ”It is also imperative for all relevant stakeholders, including eminent traditional and religious leaders, members of the Bar and Bench, civil society organisations, human rights activists among others to rise up to the challenge and ensure that the good people of Oyo State do not also suffer total breakdown of democratic institutions in the hand of the PDP government, which has already subjected them to frustration and disappointment in the areas of good governance and quality service delivery.” Contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, was not available for comments.
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