The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN Monday condemned attacks on justices of the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja.
The minister has therefore advised political gladiators and their supporters to exercise restraint and demonstrate respect for the judiciary.
Until his appointment, the AGF was part of the President Bola Tinubu legal team defending his mandate at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT).
The President’s victory, it will be recalled, was challenged by Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, candidates of the People Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) respectively at the tribunal first and now the Supreme Court.
Speaking at the Court of Appeal’s 2023/2024 legal year ceremony in Abuja, Fagbemi who acknowledged the entitlement of individuals to freedom of expression, added: “it is abhorrent of any legal practitioner or judicial officer to be threatened or worse still attacked for doing their job.”
A Media aide to the former Vice President and a handful of the obedient supporters allegedly threatened the tribunal judges in the line of duties.
One Chidi, one of the supporters of the candidate of the Labour party once shared a picture of the lead Justice of the Presidential Election Petition Court, Haruna Tsammani with two children on social media, warning him against compromising his integrity on the election petitions before him.
The ‘obidient’ who goes by Harry of Milan (@SantaChidi) on Twitter shared the picture with a stern warning that if his Panel of Justices should compromise themselves in the judgment, Tsammani would regret it.
Justice Haruna Tsammani leads the panel of five Justices of PEPTC with Moses Ugo, Bolaji-Yusuf, Justice Stephen Adah, and Abbah Mohammed as members.
His message reads, “Hello Justice Haruna Tsammani! I know people will say this is blackmail or whitemail or LGTV mail, I don’t give a flying hoot.
“This is to let you and every judge on the PEPT Panel know that if you get compromised, lemme reserve my thoughts.”
The Labour Party (LP) has since refuted claims that its supporters threatened judges of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) reviewing the petition by its presidential candidate Obi, against the declaration of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25, 2023, presidential election.
In a statement, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) was behind the rumour to tarnish the LP’s image and stir unrest.
Lately too, Shaibu has reportedly threatened the judiciary via various remarks and press statements.
But while deflating the assertion, the aide in a statement wondered how messages like: “All Eyes on the Judiciary” would translate into a threat to society.
Shaibu said: “The basic principle of social justice is about the people. The advertisers of the billboards only did what the norm is in civilised climes.
“It was the agents working to impress an interest that read meanings to that innocuous advert. Otherwise, it is a basic principle that eyes must be on the wheel of justice. Eyes must naturally be on the wheel of justice because when justice is delivered, it must be ‘seen’ to have been just.”
