HURIWA wants Supreme Court to quickly resolve PDP’s crisis

A pro-Democracy and civil rights body, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onoghen to ensure that the subsisting intra-party leadership crisis in the nation’s opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is decided rapidly.

The Rights group in a statement jointly signed by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director, Miss. Zainab Yusuf in Abuja, yesterday said the delay in adjudicating the leadership crises in the Courts of law has contributed in weakening democracy in Nigeria.

Bemoaning what it calls the rapid collapse of multiparty democracy in Nigeria, the Rights group attributed this retrogression to the dearth of constructive opposition politics brought about by the sponsored internal infighting for leadership control in the nation’s only hitherto viable opposition platform.

It therefore pleaded with the Supreme Court to decide the matter rapidly by not allowing lawyers to use technicalities to delay adjudication, which will inevitably be fatalistic to the nation’s democracy and good governance.

HURIWA said: “We are worried by the ignominious roles played by the lower courts in prolonging the leadership crises within the nation’s only opposition party. This prolonged litigation has made it possible for most elected office holders under the banner of PDP to cross over to the ruling All Progressives Congress and this phenomenon can only be checked if the Supreme court can make haste and bring the matter to a finality by deciding one way or the other on the authentic national Chairman of the party who enjoys the backing of majority of the genuine members of the PDP.

“We pray the Supreme Court not to allow the drama occasioned by the leadership tussle in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which played out at the Supreme Court at the last hearing whereby two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) announced appearances for the embattled political party to bring undue waste of time. ”