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The People's Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, rejected the appointment of Nigeria's acting president (CJN).
The PDP, in a statement issued Friday in Abuja by its national advertising secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the PDP had rejected in its entirety attempts to impose an illegal justice leader on the nation, while Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen remained in the office.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday suspended Onnoghen pending the end of his trial in the Code of Ethics Tribunal and sworn in Judge Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, of Bauchi State, as acting NCJ.
According to the president, the suspension resulted from the ongoing trial of Onnoghen by the CCT and subsequent order of the court ordering him to suspend him pending the completion of his trial.
Ologbondiyan, who is also director of media and advertising at the PDP's presidential campaign organization (PPP), said the PDP was firmly convinced that this impunity could not continue, as Nigeria was a governed country. by the law.
He called on the National Assembly to meet immediately and to initiate legislative action against President Buhari for suspension.
"There can not be two chief justices of Nigeria. Our Constitution clearly defines the manner in which a Chief Justice is appointed and dismissed, which is not the prerogative of the Speaker.
"As such, we urge all Nigerians and the international community to recognize Onnoghen only as Chief Justice of Nigeria.
Ologbondiyan urged the international community, and in particular the United States and the United Kingdom, to note that this action constituted an aggression against the judiciary with the aim of overturning the 2019 general elections.
"Nigeria is a democratic state governed by the constitution and the law and Nigerians will never allow anyone to take over domination outside the precepts of the law," Ologbondiyan said.
Similarly, Atiku Abubakar rejected the appointment of an acting CJN and called on Judge Onnoghen and the judiciary to resist by all possible legal and constitutional means.
In a statement, Abubakar described the President's action as the latest in the rape of the country's hard-won democracy.
"The fact that the illegal suspension of Onnoghen was announced at a time when it was common knowledge that the NCJ was the court of the electoral petition did not escape the discernment of Nigerians and the international community. .
"This act of desperation is destined to affect the outcome of the 2019 presidential elections.
"Indeed, it is not only the CJN that has been" suspended ", it is the Nigerian Constitution that has been violated and, in fact, suspended, under the guise of the suspension of the CJN.
Abubakar called for the unity of the judiciary, stating that they should not allow the APC government to turn them against you.
"The judiciary is the last hope of the common man and the defender of our democracy.
"I also urge the international community to follow the laudable example of the United States and the United Kingdom in intervening so that those involved in this undemocratic act know that their actions will have consequences. Strong consequences. "
He also urged Nigerian voters to save the country from dictatorship by voting against a desperate war against the judiciary.
In another reaction, the Senate Speaker, Bukola Saraki, said he was concerned about the suspension of Onnoghen.
Saraki, in a statement, said the suspension was foreign to the Constitution.
"There is already a general opinion that this measure was taken to anticipate the inauguration by Onnoghen of the courts of the electoral petition already planned.
"To unilaterally suspend the CJN without following the provisions of the constitution is a dangerous signal for the whole world.
"Our Constitution does not provide for the suspension of the country's highest judicial officer. The constitution provides for a clear process for the dismissal of the NCJ and defines the roles of the three branches of government, starting with the National Council of the Judiciary (NYC), the National Assembly and the Presidency.
"They all have a different role to play in this process," he said.
He called for the reversal of the decision to allow legality to be respected, as well as Onnoghen's ability to remain at the helm of the country's judiciary.
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