The Supreme Court of Nigeria slammed some Nigerians on Saturday for “venting convoluted anger” in the aftermath of its recent pronouncements, which affirmed a former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, and Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as All Progressives Congress senatorial candidates in the February 25 elections.
According to The Punch, the Supreme Court’s Director of Press and Information, Dr. Festus Akande, issued the warning in a statement titled “Be mindful of unwarranted attacks on judicial officers.” The Supreme Court warned purveyors of such attacks on the judiciary and Nigeria’s Chief Justice, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, particularly the US-based Professor Farooq Kperogi and Progressive Minds Forum, to stop and redirect their energies to political parties that “fail to organize themselves well.”
It is disheartening, according to Akande, to learn that some individuals and groups of people who should know better and even assume the revered positions of role models to a larger proportion of the citizens are now, sadly, the ones flagrantly displaying ignorance and infantilism in the course of defending the indefensible. Farooq Adamu Kperogi, who described himself as a Nigerian-American Professor, decided to plunge into an abysmal pit of irredeemable ignorance by venting convoluted anger on Supreme Court Justices to please his paymasters in an ineptly scripted toxic article. However, we have repeatedly stated that Judicial Officers are not political office holders or politicians who should be dressed in such robes.
As a result, our silence must not be misconstrued as weakness or cowardice. Certainly, every Nigerian citizen has an inalienable right to express his or her opinion without hindrance; however, even when exercising such a fundamental right, we must exercise caution in order not to infringe on the right of another person. Even in a state of emotional disequilibrium, we should be reasonable enough to choose decent words in communicating our grievances.
Meanwhile, as reported earlier, the current crisis rocking the main opposition party, PDP took another dimension on Friday as Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, criticized the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Iyorcha Ayu, for the campaign error he made in Kano State, saying, “PDP has brought us shame.”
