THE NATION
Former Chairman of the Governing Board of Projects Development Institute (PRODA), Enugu, Comrade Daniel Onjeh, has expressed concerns over the increasing trend of conflicting injunctions emanating from courts, warning that such judicial inconsistencies could push the country towards anarchy.
In a statement on Monday, Onjeh condemned what he described as the reckless abuse of legal orders, stating that the judiciary, being the last hope of the common man, must safeguard its integrity.
He warned that eroding public confidence in the judicial system could return society to a State of Nature as opined by Thomas Hobbes where the survival of the fittest prevails.
“It is becoming apparent that the Benue State Local Government Election Petition Tribunal, empaneled by the embattled Chief Judge of Benue State, Justice Maurice Ikpambese, is on a mission to subvert justice.
“The Appeal Panel, which is the final arbiter in the matter of the 2024 Benue State Local Government Elections, seems determined to deliver rulings that will make a complete travesty of the law,” Onjeh declared.
Onjeh said it was even more worrisome as Justice Ikpambese, in a viral video, had previously said he’ll put judges in the Appeal Panel that will “pepper” the Benue State Government.
He added that the embattled Benue Chief Judge seems bent on using his jurisdictional control over the Tribunals and Appeal Panel to subvert justice in the matter.
“These power-hungry detractors care nothing about public perception or the far-reaching consequences of their actions. Their desperation to control the Benue local government system has dragged the name and image of the judiciary into the mud,” he said.
Onjeh dismissed as laughable the belief of some political actors that they can manipulate the system without being exposed.
“They think they are swimming in a boundless ocean, whereas, those with the third eye to discern their political gimmicks are seeing them clearly like tiny goldfishes in an aquarium. They may deceive a gullible society, but their activities are obvious to us, and we will continue to expose them,” he asserted.
He further described the recent injunction by the FCT High Court, which ordered the relocation of the Benue State Election Petition Tribunal back to Abuja as legally and procedurally flawed.
He pointed out that the applicants who secured the injunction lacked locus standi, as they were neither petitioners nor respondents in the tribunal.
“Even more absurd is the fact that they falsely included the APC as a party in their application, despite the party not being involved in the case,” Onjeh noted.
He explained that interim injunctions are preservative orders meant to maintain the status quo, not to compel an action. However, in this case, the FCT High Court went beyond its bounds by issuing an order that mandated action rather than preserving an existing situation…
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