Judiciary Should Not Determine Who Wins Elections in Nigeria, Says Bode George

•Coup in Niger has no impact on our national interest

Segun James

Former Deputy National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George has warmed the judiciary against usurping the right of the people to determine winners on any election.

He lamented that instead of allowing the will of the people to prevail, the judiciary has been making pronouncements and determining who win elections instead of asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to re-conduct the elections until the true winners emerges.

George who was a former military Governor of old Ondo State cried that what the nation is going through now is a “government of the judiciary by the judiciary for the judiciary.”

He stated this at a press briefing held in his office in Ikoyi, Lagos yesterday, stressed that the judiciary should not be the one to determine the winner but the people, adding that the responsibility of the judiciary is to be fair and just and not to select.

“Our country has been doing, very little positively and very much negatively. In the last few days, I have been thinking as a former military officer and as a civilian since I have served five presidents.

“We are derailing, the British came and merged us together for their own economic gains but the separation could have been ideal. We saw the positivity of the first democratic dispensation.

“Unfortunately, it is that same national government which everybody rejected is what we are running. The 1999 constitution, who prepared it? The constitution is not working. Thank God, President Jonathan came with amendment. but where is the report? If you are in government and people are not happy, your representation is called to question.”

Speaking specifically on the last general elections, George noted, “Our electoral process is shambolic, nonsensical and make the country to be nosediving. It is the manipulation of the system.

“A glitch on the day of the election is unforgivable but INEC chairman told us they were ready but with what happened, generation to come will never forgive him.

“The most contentious issue in Nigeria today is the judiciary, it is one of the pillars of government. Is it right for the judiciary to tell us who won or lost the election? What we understand by democracy is Government of the people by the people and for the people but in our own case it shouldn’t be Government of the judiciary by the judiciary and for the judiciary. Is that democratic?” He queried.

“It is the will of the people that should prevail. If you discover any wrong, ask them to go back and conduct fresh election even if it takes hundred times. The job of the judiciary is not to tell us who lost or who won.”

George also warned the federal government against going to war over the coup in Niger.

According to him, “the coup in Niger has no impact on our national interest. We should go to war only if our national interest is abridged.”