Wabara: Bold, Fearless Judges Can Salvage Nigeria’s Democracy

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

A former Senate President, Dr. Adolphus Wabara, has called on the judiciary to be courageous enough to restore democracy back to life in Nigeria following the mortal blow it received on February 25 during the 2023 presidential and National Assembly election.

He made the call in a chat with journalists in Umuahia while reacting to the outcome of the presidential election in which Bola Ahmed of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Although he was sceptical about challenging the outcome of the poll in court, Wabara said justice could come the way of Nigerians aggrieved over the outcome of the poll if bold and fearless judges could step out and do the needful.

“Our democracy has died (and) I don’t have any hope in the judiciary unless we have a bold judge, who is prepared to lose his job the next day,” he said, adding that such judges were not many in Nigeria.

He expressed disappointment with the electoral umpire, which failed to stick to its own rules and guidelines to upload the results real time from the polling units.
Wabara, who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisted that the poll could not pass any credibility test.

“It’s a sham! You can see from the international observers how they condemned what we called election in the 21st century,” he said, adding: “There is no hope again for the country. We have killed democracy in Nigeria.”

According to Wabara, there was no difference between what transpired on February 25, 2023 and what obtained in the days of infamy, “when people won election at all cost and asked their opponents to go to court.”  

He said with the Electoral Law amendments and assurances from INEC, he had thought “we had passed that stage (of winning by all means), and are now responsible” only to be proved wrong by the electoral umpire.

The former Abia South Senator hit hard at INEC, saying its “shameful conduct” at the polls has made Nigeria an object of ridicule before the international community, citing the damming verdict of international observers.