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The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of rendering both the judiciary and legislative arms of government impotent.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the Association lamented that Nigeria is on the verge of democratic annihilation.
HURIWA asserted that judicial independence under the watch of Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun has collapsed while the National Assembly has degenerated into a political annex of the Presidency.
Onwubiko, said, “The Nigerian judiciary under the current CJN has been reduced to a timid, corrupt, and compromised shadow of itself, incapable of delivering justice in any matter that affects President Tinubu or his political cronies.
“The National Judicial Council (NJC) is now a polluted sanctuary of inefficiency and poor governance standards, with its leadership firmly on the side of the President and the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
The group cited the political clout of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, who, it alleged, has enjoyed an unbroken string of judicial victories under the current dispensation through “suspected insider compromises, unethical collusion, and abuse of judicial influence” in the Federal High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court.
HURIWA described as a “national embarrassment” the Supreme Court’s refusal to even fix a hearing date for the suit challenging the “illegal and unconstitutional” suspension of the Rivers State governor.
According to the group, the governor ultimately backed down because he knew the courts, already captured by the Executive and its allies, would never grant him justice.
The rights group also pointed to several post-2023 judicial outcomes that, in its view, have deepened public distrust in the legal system.
Furthermore, it recalled the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal proceedings, in which despite glaring irregularities cited by petitioners, both the tribunal and the Supreme Court upheld Tinubu’s election, a decision that many political observers allege was predetermined through high-level compromises.
“Since the 2023 elections, the Appeal Court and Supreme Court have been associated with a spate of alleged bribery-induced judgments in politically sensitive cases, especially those involving holders of executive offices. These are judicial robberies dressed in legal robes,” HURIWA alleged.
Turning to the legislature, the association accused the 10th National Assembly of “openly advertising its subservience to President Tinubu.”
It cited Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s public statement, “I was not elected to fight Tinubu,” as emblematic of a legislature that has abandoned its constitutional duty of oversight.
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