Get Guardian on GoogleThe presidential candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), Faduri Oluwadare Joseph, popularly known as Fadojoe, has warned that Nigeria’s democracy is under threat following a Federal High Court judgment nullifying the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by former Senate President David Mark and invalidating the party’s presidential nomination of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Joseph, in a press statement on Friday, expressed concern over the development, warning that the judiciary must not become an instrument for undermining democratic participation and Nigerians’ right to choose their leaders.
Describing the judgment as troubling, the AA presidential candidate said its timing, barely two and a half months before the 2027 general elections, had raised serious questions about judicial independence, political competition and the future of Nigeria’s democracy.
He maintained that the issue transcended party affiliation, insisting that every Nigerian politician and opposition candidate had a stake in protecting democratic freedoms.
“Let me state unequivocally that I am not speaking today because I belong to the ADC. I do not. I am the Presidential Candidate of Action Alliance (AA). I am speaking because an injustice against democratic participation anywhere is a threat to democratic participation everywhere,” he said.
Joseph warned that the development could set a dangerous precedent for opposition politics in the country, arguing that candidates affected today could be replaced by other opposition figures tomorrow.
“Today, it is Atiku Abubakar and the ADC. Tomorrow, it could be Peter Obi, myself, or any other opposition candidate,” he warned.
He argued that democracy would lose its essence if opposition parties were unable to challenge the ruling party freely and offer Nigerians alternative political choices.
“A democracy that survives only when the ruling party has no serious challenger is not a democracy worth celebrating,” he stated.
On the judiciary’s role in Nigeria’s democratic process, Joseph acknowledged the importance of the courts in upholding the Constitution and ensuring that political actors operate within the law.
However, he cautioned against a situation in which prolonged litigation and internal party disputes prevent voters from exercising their democratic rights.
“Why has Nigeria become a country where political parties spend more time defending their existence in courtrooms than presenting solutions to the Nigerian people?” he queried.
He also expressed concern that elections were increasingly becoming entangled in prolonged litigation, factional disputes and last-minute judicial pronouncements.
The AA presidential candidate stressed that although no political party or candid be above the law, judicial decisions must take into account their broader implications for democratic participation.
“The courtroom must never become a substitute for the ballot box,” he declared.
Joseph added that the judiciary was established to protect justice and constitutional democracy, not to provide a platform through which the political aspirations of millions of Nigerians could be frustrated.
He called for urgent measures to restore public confidence in the independence, consistency and impartiality of the Nigerian judicial system.
