The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has cautioned the election petition tribunals against being compromised as they look into suits arising from the just concluded 2023 general polls.
Mr Joe Ajaero gave the advice on Sunday in Abuja at a news conference organized by the Labour and Civil Society Movement Front, News About Nigeria gathered.
“We identify with all the views expressed here because we believe that the mission is geared towards rescuing Nigeria and rescuing the judiciary as the latter is clearly down.
“The judiciary has set many states and institutions on fire. The judiciary has set Imo State on fire, and up till now, people are wondering how a person who was not a candidate of his party be declared the governor? The judiciary has so many questions to answer.
If they failed to answer those questions within a short time, we would create a Hall of Shame for those judges that come up with some judgments and that could happen soon,” Ajaero said.
The NLC president said there was a need for the Nigerian Bar Association and all arms in the judiciary to speak out on what was happening in the judiciary.
He said that Nigerians would want to know if the judiciary was still the last hope of the common man.
“Now the destiny of the country hangs on them. It is either they fulfill the role of being the last hope of the common man or they betray it,” he said.
Amb. Nkoyo Toyo, Convener of the Labour and Civil Society Front, noted that ripples from the 2023 elections have been worrisome and frightening.
“We condemn the outright manipulation of the electoral process and abdication of responsibility by INEC as it has not only destroyed trust in the democratic process,” she said.
The NLC president said that organised labour and civil society movements might establish a ‘Hall of Shame’ for any judge that jeopardized the process.
Although President-elect Bola Tinubu is set to be inaugurated as the nation’s new president on May 29, there are a number of suits before the Presidential Election Tribunal challenging his victory.
“There is just no hope politically. What hope do they have that when they complete their studies? Will they will get jobs. What is the number of vacancies declared annually? How many people graduate from our schools? What percentage of them gets employed? So the time to rescue Nigeria is now,” Ajaero said.
