Jonathan bemoans on Tinubu, Akpabio, judiciary affair in Nigeria

• warns against consequences of impunity and brazen level of abuse of power

Goodluck Jonathan, former Nigerian President, on Saturday bemoaned the state of affairs in the country, which he said had taken root in the three arms of government – executive, legislature and judiciary and warned against the consequences of impunity and brazen level of abuse of power.

Recall the ex-President, whose record as the first to willingly accept defeat in an election shot him into global limelight as a democrat, warned that a situation in which the independence of the judiciary had suffered brazen attacks and compromise would never make progress.

Jonathan, who was speaking as the Chairman of this year’s edition of Haske Satumari Foundation Colloquium in Abuja on Saturday, cited examples with the current crisis in Rivers State, where President Bola Tinubu imposed a State of Emergency and dismantled the democratic structure in the state as part of wrongdoings by those holding the levers of power in the country.

There has been an upsurge of protest in many informed quarters against the move by the President, as many Nigerians also criticized the handling of the issue by the National Assembly, where the pronouncement was endorsed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives without transparacy on Thursday.

Speaking further on the development, Jonathan accused all those involved of not playing by the rules, saying that they not all knew the steps they were taking were wrong, but actually knew the right steps to take but deliberately doing the opposite, a situation he said would not augur well for Nigeria.

In his words: “What is happening to Nigeria today, regarding what is happening in Rivers State is like an Indian proverb that says that if somebody is really sleeping, you can easily wake up that person, but if the person is pretending to be asleep, you find it difficult to wake that person. The key actors in Nigeria from the executive to the legislature and the judiciary, they know the correct thing to do, but they’re refusing to do it. They’re pretending to sleep. And waking that person is extremely difficult because the person knows the right thing.

“There is a clear abuse of offices, clear abuse of power, clear abuse of privileges, cutting across the three arms of government, from the executive through the parliament, through the judiciary. I always plead with our people that whatever we do affects everybody. And sometimes we do things and we think that it doesn’t affect us.

“I’ve been a President before and even out of office, people still get to me. Why is that our passport is not valued that much? Why is that Nigerians are not given the type of treatment we’re supposed to receive at international airports? Sometimes you think it is because of Yahoo Boys or 419ners. It is not only them. Yes, they’re part of the problem, but whatever happens in a country – decisions that are taken by the executive arm of government – decisions by the parliament – judicial positions, affect everybody.

“For example, no businessman can bring his money to invest in a country where the judiciary is compromised, where a government functionary can dictate to judges what judgement they’ll give. No man brings his money to invest in such a country because you’re taking a big risk. So, whatever we do, affects everybody.

“If we must build a nation for our children and grandchildren, no matter how painful it is, we must strive to do what is right. It may cost us, but we must endeavour and pay the price to insist on doing what is right. Whether you’re holding executive office as a President, a Minister or a Governor, Special Adviser, whether you’re holding an office in the parliament as Senate or Reps, whether you’re a judicial officer, at the High Court or Appellate Court, you must strive to do what is right – if we must try to build a nation that our children will be proud of.”