The National Youth Leader of the main opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), Hon. Balarabe Rufai, has led hundreds of protesters to the Federal High Court, Maitama, against Hon. Justice Peter Odo Lifu over what he described as a “highly controversial ruling ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC and four other political parties.
The protesters, chanting “Justice Lifu must go”, were armed with different placards with inscriptions like “Judiciary is not for sale”, “Judiciary is our last hope”, “Don’t force Nigerians into chaos”, “Save our democracy now”, “No to one party state”, among others.
The protesters, who match from the party’s National Secretariat in Wuse 2, to the Federal High Court, Maitama, vowed not to stop the protest until Justice Lifu is removed.
They also insisted that ADC must be on the ballot for the 2027 general elections, adding that “No ADC, no election.”
Speaking with newsmen during the protest, ADC National Youth Leader, Balarabe Rufai, called on the former Heads of State and Presidents, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, General Ibrahim Babangida and former President Goodluck Jonathan, not to fold their arms while the current administration is working to impose a one-party state in Nigeria.
According to the ADC Youths Leader, with what our judiciary is turning to in the hands of people like Justice Lifu, Nigerians will lose hope in judiciary, and when Nigerians lose hope in judiciary, there will be hopelessness. We are Nigerian youths, we are young, this is our country and we don’t want chaos in this country.
He said: “We are calling on the Attorney General of the Federation to call Justice Lifu to order. He should be removed. We are calling on the leaders we have across the country, especially, the remaining former Presidents and Head of States we have to urgently intervene because the way things are going, people are losing hope in the system. By the time people lose hope in the court that suppose to be our last hope, people will take law into their hands, and that is not honorable, we don’t want chaos but the judgement against the ADC as delivered by Honourable Justice Lifu is not honourable at all.”
The ADC chieftain said a petition had been written and submitted to the National Judicial Commission (NJC) against Justice Lifu for brazenly proceeded with the judgment against the opposition ADC despite a binding Court of Appeal order that explicitly stayed proceedings on the matter, “a move that subverts the sacred doctrine of stare decisis and constitutes gross misconduct.”
When asked whether the NJC had responded to the petition, the ADC National Youth Leader said there was no action on it yet, adding that they would not be on the street if the NJC had responded by removing Justice Lifu.
“So, we are here to call for urgent intervention. We have not gotten response from NJC. We have come here physically as young people of this country because what we are experiencing now is judicial banditry, and it must stop now.
“When you have gotten an order from a Federal High Court, and you decided to go ahead with whatever you have in mind as a judge, that’s judicial banditry. So, those kind of people should not be in this system and we are here calling for urgent intervention and the removal of Justice Lifu,” Rufai said.
2027: ‘Justice Lifu must go protest’ rocks Abuja [PHOTOS]
