By Bukola Olamona
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The pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, has cautioned those hiding under the guise of freedom of expression, to engage in incitement.
The admonition was contained in a statement signed by the organisation’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi while reacting to a statement credited to a factional Secretary-General of Ohaneze, Mr. Okechukwu Isiguzoro, in which he was pre-empting the outcome of Presidential Election Petition Tribunal handling the cases that arose from February 25, 2023 presidential election.
It would be recalled that Ohaneze Ndigbo, press had insinuated that the type of military situation that occurred in neighbouring Niger Republic in July this year might happen in Nigeria if “the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) judges ‘came up with “an erroneous judgement”.
Reacting to this, Afenifere asserted that apart from constituting an intimidation of the judiciary, the statement is also inciting as “everyone knows that the only means of changing government known to law is through the ballot box. This is not just a constitutional provision in Nigeria, it is also the norm in all countries that hold the right of the people to determine who govern them as sacrosanct”.
According to the statement, Afenifere considered the aspect of Isiguzoro’s statement on FCT status in regard to election results as sub-judice in view of the fact that it is one of the key issues that is before the court.
Isiguzoro, in his statement had asserted that “the interpretation of the constitutional requirement for a presidential candidate to win 25 percent of 2/3 of the states and the Federal Capital Territory FCT), Abuja, is a crucial issue that the judiciary must address”. He then lunged into what could be interpreted as a threat: “We emphasize the consequences of an erroneous judgment in light of recent events such as the Nigerien military coup.”
Afenifere in this statement noted that it is too weighty not to be challenged because of its far-reaching implications.
“In the first place, the issue of FCT status on which there was already a judicial pronouncement is also one of the issues before the Tribunal presently. Secondly, even if a party in a political case considered the judgement of a tribunal or court as ‘erroneous’, the option is not to call for military takeover as the law clearly provides room for proceeding to the appellate court. Thus, Isiguzoro’s position, among other things, contravenes Section 133 of the Criminal Code Act in Nigeria. The Code in subsection (4) says that a person is in contempt of the court if “while a judicial proceeding is pending, makes use of any speech or writing, mispresenting such proceeding,
