Politicians will abuse NJC’s powers to suspend judges – Wike

Nyesom Wike, Rivers State Governor, has described the National Judicial Council, NJC, directive to judges under investigation to step down as unfortunate.

Wike, who hard earlier tackled the APC over the directive, told members of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Port Harcourt branch on Friday that the development would encourage politicians to write petitions against any judge whose judgement was likely to go against them.

He said, “This move to ask judges to step aside is in favour of politicians because no judge will deliver judgement against government or a ruling party.

“The implication is that politicians can now write as many petitions alleging that they saw a judge taking brown envelope – which will warrant the judge to be asked to step aside.

“For us, politicians, we are happy with this development because if I notice that I will lose a case, then I will tell my lawyer to write a petition which will result to the judge stepping aside.

“So, in other not to be alleged to have done anything wrong, judges will not give judgement against government or the ruling party.

“This is because, if judges deliver judgement against government or the ruling party, then agencies of government will come after them.”

He said the move was a clear manipulation and attempt to silence the opposition, especially as the nation was heading towards 2019 general elections.

The governor said that example to the manipulations was INEC’s quick reaction to announce federal and state legislative rerun elections shortly after the National Assembly ordered it to do so.

He said, “Simply because the Senate said it must conduct election within five weeks; the next day, INEC came up with a time table for the election.

“This is the same INEC that cited insecurity as reason why it could not conduct elections in Rivers, and now within one day after Senate’s position, the same INEC released a time table.

“The question is when did INEC meet security agencies to now take a position that there is no longer security problem in Rivers state, hence the decision to conduct the rerun elections.

“All these boil down to manipulations which not only endanger our democracy but threaten us as a people.”