The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has warned the judiciary against allowing itself to be used as a political tool to frustrate the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) rebuilding efforts and destabilise the opposition.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday and signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group said the courts must remain impartial and avoid being drawn into internal party disputes instigated by political actors seeking to weaken the PDP from within.
HURIWA alleged that a growing wave of judicial interference in the party’s affairs was part of a calculated attempt by certain powerful interests to derail the PDP’s reform process and strengthen the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to Onwubiko, the judiciary must not lend its authority to partisan conspiracies designed to cripple opposition parties. Once the courts become tools in political battles, democracy itself is endangered.
The association expressed concern that recent legal battles within the PDP had the fingerprints of political manipulation, claiming that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, working with some party insiders, including Senator Samuel Anyanwu, was covertly undermining the party’s unity while maintaining ties with the ruling APC.
Describing the development as dangerous for Nigeria’s democracy, the rights group urged judges to uphold the principle established by the Supreme Court that internal party matters are not justiciable. It warned that judicial overreach in such disputes could destroy public confidence in the courts and tilt the country toward a one-party system.
HURIWA also faulted what it called “executive inducement” of the judiciary, citing Wike’s recent donation of housing units to judges as unethical and capable of compromising judicial neutrality.
“When political office holders with vested interests in ongoing litigations begin to extend such favours to judges, public trust in the justice system suffers,” the group said.
While commending the emergence of Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN) as the PDP’s consensus candidate for national chairman, HURIWA described him as a man of integrity and loyalty capable of leading the opposition’s renewal.
“Turaki represents the moral and intellectual revival that the PDP urgently needs to reclaim its place as a credible democratic alternative,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, HURIWA has expressed deep concern over the recurring pattern of fires and demolition exercises in major Lagos markets largely dominated by Igbo traders, describing the incidents as a serious threat to national unity and economic stability.
The latest fire outbreak at Alaba International Market, Ojo, on Tuesday night, destroyed several shops and warehouses, with goods worth billions of naira lost.
The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that its personnel were deployed to the scene to contain the blaze, but videos circulating online showed traders in anguish as flames consumed large sections of the market.
In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, described the Alaba fire as a tragic addition to the growing list of incidents undermining the economic base of a particular group of Nigerians in Lagos.
He said the association was demanding an independent investigation into the cause of the fire and the response time of emergency agencies, stressing that transparency and accountability were essential to restoring public confidence.
