Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong has slammed some Nigerian governors who praised President Bola Tinubu for not interfering in recent Supreme Court Judgments which affirmed their elections as governors.
The Supreme Court had, on Friday, delivered separate judgements on petitions challenging the victories of governors in eight states of the country.
The states are Lagos, Kano, Zamfara, Ebonyi, Plateau, Abia, Cross River, and Bauchi.
The cases, which started at the election petition tribunals in the various states, got to the Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, in its separate judgements, upheld the elections of the eight governors, including those of Kano and Plateau States, who had been sacked by the lower courts.
After the court judgements, some of the governors praised Mr Tinubu for not interfering in their legal battles.
Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, for instance, said in an address on Saturday to mark his victory at the apex court, that Mr Tinubu deserves praise for “remaining firm to the resolve that the judiciary should be independent,” apparently suggesting non-interference of the president.
“If he had not done that, perhaps some of the verdicts that we’re getting today may have been different.
“I believe that his non-intervention in the judiciary has produced positive results for the country today,” Mr Otti had said.
Like Mr Otti, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State had, in reaction to the Supreme Court judgment affirming his election last Thursday, said the ruling was in his favour because President Tinubu did not interfere with it, implying that the president could influence the decision of the court if he so wished.
The governor spoke on Sunday at a church the All Nations Christian Ministry International in Eket, Akwa Ibom State.
“I will continue to support President Tinubu. Do you know why?” Mr Eno asked the congregants.
“No,” they chorused.
“Because he (Tinubu) does not interfere with the judicial process,” the governor said.
Human rights lawyer speaks
Reacting in a post on his X handle on Tuesday, Mr Effiong said the governors, by their praise of the president, were “invariably saying that they do not have confidence” in the Supreme Court to deliver judgment without interference.
“They are telling us that they do not trust the independence and impartiality of the judiciary,” he said.
The lawyer said it was ridiculous that Mr Tinubu was being praised by the governors for the Judgments instead of the court judges who delivered them.
“Are justices of the apex court answerable to the president?” Mr Effiong queried.
The lawyer said, “The patronising comments by the victorious governors are sickening and upsetting.”
He argued that the actions of the governors were not the right way to entrench confidence in the country’s institutions.
“They (the governors) are scandalising the justices with their needless praises of Tinubu,” he said.
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