₦airaland Forum

Racoon:
The Ikoyi SW Lagos was colonised by a heroine-drug running baron first class graduate of accountancy who destroyed Nigeria some more after Buhari

The sudden dissolution of the Advertising Board of Nigeria, a statutory body of the federal authorities, stinks to the high heavens. The action is highly repressive and high-handed, not only for its arbitrariness but also for seeming to kill a fly with the sledgehammer. Though the circumstances leading to this thoughtless action have not been clarified yet, suffice it to say right away that the punishment reminds us of the cruel days of military rule and decrees. One account holds that the Board was sacked for not suppressing a trending billboard message: “All eyes on the judiciary.”

This message, presumably cleared by the Board, another account says, sparked a wide- spread campaign on and offline, reflecting the genuine anxiety of teeming millions who voted Peter Obi for president on February 25. We daresay that the anxiety arises from the indefinite delay of the PEPT of its verdict on the Labour Party and Obi’s petition against INEC and the APC candidate whom the Commission had declared victorious, contrary to expectations. How does the billboard flout the rule of sub judice in Nigeria? How does the message obstruct or influence justice delivery at the Tribunal which had concluded open hearings and now sits in camera?

If indeed the billboard does offend, is it in the place of the executive arm to punish the Board for offending(?) the judiciary which can fend for itself? Other pertinent questions cross our minds at this juncture: Did the Board act ultra vires in allowing the message to air? Has the message infringed on the democratic rights of anyone in this polity? Who is ag- grieved by that innocuous message that ventilates the inalienable rights of people to express themselves without let or hindrance? In a saner society than ours, should not the response be “Yes, we are aware and are working and justice will not only be served but seen to be served”?

By that ruthless sacking of the Board, the Tinubu presidency just confirmed the people have every reason to be apprehensive. It proves the billboard right. Anyone in the shoes of the judiciary will earnestly desire that all eyes remain focused on them to scare away hawks who would want to derail justice. Why is the tribunal ruling taking forever to rule on the various issues raised? After all, the issues are straightforward. Why look for twists and turns? In the course of this rigmarole, a harmless song of a co-wife is interpreted to mean a cuWhat Why should the billboard tug at anyone’s conscience?

If all eyes are on you, awaiting a decision from you, it’s to underscore the importance of what you want to do. It’s like a child glued to the adult holding his biscuit or toy. Nothing will distract that child from removing his glare on that toy. If you fail to do it well their hearts, not eyes will be on you. In the spirit world, all eyes not all hearts should be on you. So, all eyes on the judiciary are a kind of forewarning alerting the judiciary to do the right thing and to prevent the people’s hearts from being on them. Before the February 25, Presidential election, all eyes were on Prof Mahmoud Yakubu and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to get it right and deliver the will of the people, but when he failed himself and the people, their hearts turned to them.

Since then he has been receiving all kinds of curses that will require a lot of spiritual exorcism or catharsis to extricate him and his household from the malediction. Therefore if you are holding something in trust for the people and they are expecting you to deliver, you should wish that all eyes be on you to keep you permanently on alert and undistracted because to lose trend and derail can be catastrophic. If Nigeria’s judiciary gets it wrong it would be a death knell for democracy in this land. It would mark the final subjugation of the people. But what is assuring is that there is a very weighty repercussion for this even though the perpetrators are trying to play it down.

Forget the “I don’t care” attitude of political criminals who undermine the People’s will, try tracing their end and you will see people in regret. Even though some of these repercussions are apparent, the evildoers are most often deaf and blind to history. Even the Holy Book used the story of Lazarus and the rich man to forewarn the consequences of evil, but most rich people on earth read that chapter and flip it.

If Prof Yakubu tells you he has been sleeping well since his March 1st, 2023 4 a.m. fraudulent election result announcement, he is a liar. You cannot trample on the will of the people blatantly and get away with it even if you don’t believe in vox populi, vox Dei. Why on earth should anybody who means well and has a clear conscience be afraid or worried that all eyes are on him? A football referee who is afraid of the fans must have issues with impartial officiating. Unknown to those who set out to commit a crime thinking that the victim would not be able to do anything, the most delicate person to offend is the one who would not react violently.

When you choose to take away the mandate of a marathoner and student of the nonviolent hero, India’s Gandhi like Peter Obi, and you think all is over, you might just be in self-deceit. Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his strategists must have assured themselves that once sworn in and the government rolls on, ministers appointed, tell all governors to nominate people for board positions, get the ECOWAS chair, and threaten a neighbour with the war in the thinking that nations unite around their leaders during wars.

That’s true but not in the case of contrived wars and certainly not with a leader who is legitimacy-challenged, who undermined the people on his way up, not one who grabs power at the expense of the people. If it was that simple, a harmless billboard emblazoned with “All eyes on the judiciary” should not have raised their adrenaline to warrant pulling it down and sacking the Advertising Board governors. As a critical arm of the democratic government, the judiciary does not need protection from the executive if it’s threatened. It has all the powers to protect itself.

Even if the billboard message is offensive and breaches the law, it’s not for an executive who is a party to the case at the tribunal to play the protector. In fact, in this instance, the action of the executive is what is sub judice because it interpreted the message dubiously and hyped to play the helper to the judiciary. The public knowledge of the ad multiplied after the thoughtless action of the jittery executive.

In real terms, the Tinubu government, hurt and impaired by the billboard, heralded it where they ostensibly wanted the judiciary to see them as protective. I know some people might fear the truth, but it should always be anyone’s first choice. It is important to hear the truth. Although it can be hard to handle sometimes, lies will make things worse over time. I would rather face the truth to avoid being hurt by things that aren’t true.

The question to ask at this point is, why should all eyes be on the Judiciary? Does the judiciary need all eyes to do what is right? Are they not Nigerian enough to appreciate the importance of serving justice to the people at this time and all the times? There would not have been any need really to put extra gaze on our expectations but going by the rulings coming out of Nigerian courts on political matters, there are some huge reasons to increase our anxiety.

The 2020 case of the Imo State gubernatorial wonder judgment and the 2023 bizarre ruling on the Yobe State senatorial case involving the former Senate President are two judicial somersaults that helped to stimulate everybody’s longing. The motive of the promoters of all eyes on the judiciary is not necessarily to influ- ence the justices, but more to protect them from untoward influences. The government and the agency fighting against it know full well their reason for trying to push such messages away from the public glare.

It makes them uncomfortable for the same reason that makes it necessary for those who think otherwise. It’s all eyes being on the judiciary that led to the outcry from Justice Azinge of the Kano State election petition tribunal that some senior lawyers were trying to bribe her and her panel. The intention of those trying to sway the judiciary is obvious, to pervert justice. Ordinarily, given the discrete quantity and weight of evidence put forward in the Presidential election case, there should be no cause for concern but with the “grab power at all costs” attitude of the ruling APC, nothing should be left to chance.

For instance, the issue of the 25%-poll tally in the FCT with all existing judicial positions in the past by the Supreme Court of the land is keeping the judiciary in total check with little or no way to meander. Also hanging like a clog on the judiciary and making it difficult to maneuver without ridiculing themselves are the seven critical points of law raised by petitioners.

The reasons all eyes and hearts are on the judiciary to dispense justice include but are not limited to the fact that Nigeria’s 2023 electoral process is like no other as it generated unprecedented political awareness in the populace, with a massive number of first-time voters, mostly youths. It establishes voter confidence in the electoral process as it radically plugs most of the legal and procedural loopholes for rigging and manipulation of election results, hence the citizens were upbeat about the polls.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, the Party’s Chairman, Julius Abure and other party big wigs on Tuesday arrived Owerri, the Imo State capital to flag-off campaign for the party.

Naija News reports that the LP candidate arrived Owerri for the flag-off of the party’s campaign for the gubernatorial candidate, Athan Achonu hours after participating in the Edo mega rally ahead of the local government elections.

Athan will present his manifesto to the people of Imo using the wide acceptance of Labour Party and it’s Presidential candidate, Peter Obi among the people of Imo at the November 11 polls.

He will also be hoping that the success of the Labour Party during the election in Abia is replicated in Imo.

The former senator will be challenging the incumbent, Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and 14 other candidates.

wunmi590:


I see alot of mention, I'm here for alot of your tears...

We are approaching dry season, keep crying, so that I can save up your tears and use it to wash my car 🚗 during dry season....

This is just a gift to people who needs it from the chairman of ikoyi-obalende....

AuschwitzPrefec:
Ask Tupac .

All eyes on him and he got whacked .

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While Nigeria, through its chairmanship of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) has taken upon itself the saddle of restoring democracy to the Republic of Niger, it must be pointed out that charity begins at home.

Some civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria have raised the alarm over attempts by some politicians to undermine the election tribunal cases through corruption.

They alleged that some elements, especially politicians and some lawyers in their teams are pressuring the judiciary into subverting justice across the country.

The CSOs are the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Transparency International (TI) and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).

Speaking through their leader, Awwal Musa Rafsanjani, who is also the chairman, TMG, said they noticed with dismay concerted efforts by unscrupulous elements to subvert justice by pressuring judges.

“It is even more disheartening to see that at a time when democracy has become more threatened in the West African subregion largely as a result of corrupt actions of some politicians, the need to thread even more carefully to ensure the judicial processes to addressing petitions from the 2023 election are seen to be fair has been disregarded.

“The revelation on political efforts to subvert justice through bribery to justices and staff of courts as revealed by the Chairperson of the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal is of great worry to every concerned citizen of Nigeria. While the action of the Kano State election petition chairperson in coming out to speak out must be commended, one cannot hold back from imagining the amount of corruption that would have already trailed the tribunals across the country.

“TMG and many other civil society organisations consider the attempt to pervert justice at the election tribunals through corruption as an onslaught on the judiciary. If allowed to persist, it would further erode citizens’ trust in the judicial system to deliver justice. It is therefore important to protect the judiciary from politics and corrupt politicians.

“At this point in time, when the outcome of the 2023 election has resulted to unprecedented number of cases before the courts, the judiciary has inevitable been positioned as the last bearer of the light of rule of law and has been left with the task of deepening democracy in Nigeria through fair hearings and impartial judgements. While it is important for investigative journalism and civic activism to rise up to protect the judiciary from the corrupt actions of politicians, it is also crucial for the judiciary to protect itself as an independent arm of government by deploying every available legal provision within its means to ensure it is not allowed to be ridiculed by the politicians.

“While Nigeria, through its chairmanship of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) has taken upon itself the saddle of restoring democracy to the Republic of Niger, it must be pointed out that charity begins at home. If the Nigerian state cannot ensure free, fair, and credible elections that would have reduced the current burden on the judiciary, if the Nigerian government would close its eyes and turn a deaf ear to revelations of bribery to judges to pervert justice at the election tribunals, then there are no moral grounds to leading efforts to restore democracy anywhere in the world.

“It is clear to see the yearnings of Nigerians for democracy to be deepened in the country as manifested in the 2023 elections. While there is the general perception that the election fell far off citizens’ expectations for credibility, belief has been shifted to the judiciary to deliver justice. With the current revelations, it can be seen that there are ongoing attempts to further deny citizens the right to justice. These are situations that can lead to citizens viewing those in authority as illegitimate and breed anarchy. It is therefore imperative for all those who love Nigeria to play their role in ensuring democracy is not derailed in Nigeria as a result of actions of greedy and corrupt politicians who will stop at nothing for personal aggrandizement,” he said.

njidexy:
Hi. Good evening everyone. I am new on this page. Is there still opportunity to register for this N power project because I am just hearing about it now. Thank you

Adaisback:
Tinubi, I pray that God will instill fear in your heart so you won't invade Niger. Many of my people are there and I won't let you put their lives on the line because of your yeye ego

Hope4Naja:
Hello, what is your opinion on the amount regarded as Low Income, Middle Income and High Income in Nigeria

Low Income (N30,000-N150,000)
Middle Income (N151,000-N400,000)
High Income (N401,000-N800,000)

I see anything above N800,000 as the elite class

jahsharon:
Find out from your current family head. Find out what killed your great-grandfather, your grandfather, and your father, so that you will know what will kill you. It's a chronic psychiatric disorder that has been passed down generations.

Racoon:
Guess it is the same NAF whose planes were being sadly gunned down repeatedly by bandits and BH terrorists that they and the Nigerian government kept on denying even with clear videos?

Guess it is the same NAF jets that have been missing their coordinates thereby leading to unfortunate bombing of civilians and straffing of our own military? As mummified zombies, keep on goading the illegitimate president and cocaine/heroin sniffer to Golgotha.

jahsharon:
When the judges throw away your useless case, if you troop to the streets, you will be sacrificed to the gods. It's a long time that Sango, Ogun, nd Esu Odara drank much blood. Wike the wicked one is already waiting for you in Abuja, Sanwo-Olu will teach you another bitter lesson in Lagos.

helinues:
Na when dem borrow?

NYSC has been informed but they are doing nothing to set her free. Well meaning Nigeria should please help this innocent lady.

forgiveness:
What could he have done better? Share money?

As early as possible this morning, another billboard sighted somewhere with "25% IN FCT IS A MUST”

You can't prevent the emergence of an idea whose moment has arrived.

#AllEyesOnTheJudiciary

Dshocker:
This same news made front page about 2 days ago.... Why repeat news on this forum SEUN?

It is upon this development that we are pleading and seeking for the intervention of our dear president to consider a concessionary rate for fuel importers.