The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, will be forced to resign from his position by zonal rallies that will start the following week, according to the Coalition of Civil Societies of Nigeria (CCSN).
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For the umpteenth time, the coalition of 18 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) demanded the CJN’s immediate resignation in order to preserve the nation’s democracy.
According to gospelcable, Ariwoola got into trouble when he was quoted as saying that he was pleased that Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State, was a part of the G-5, a dissident faction of the People’s Democratic Party, at a recent project commissioning in Rivers State.
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Following his remarks in Rivers, the coalition launched a nonviolent protest at the Supreme Court and the National Assembly, where it demanded the CJN step down.
However, speaking at a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja, the Coalition’s Head, Olayinka Dada, claimed that since Ariwoola visited Port Harcourt for a project commissioning, there has been much unrest in Nigeria’s political environment, which he attributed to the CJN’s partisan remarks made at the event.
He asserted: “These statements are sufficient evidence of the CJN’s partisanship in a political dispute involving his friends in one of the 18 political parties contesting the 2023 elections. Nigerians are unhappy with and perplexed by this new development.
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The coalition stated that with the upcoming elections, Nigerians expect an impartial judiciary to render justice in cases of conflict before, during, and after the elections.
He claims that the coalition has laid out strategies and legal means to compel Ariwoola to resign.
“As we all know, election results are often contested in courts and in many instances, end at the Supreme Court. How will the CJN allow honest dispensation of justice if the party and friends he already aligned with are interested parties in such disputes?
“How will the CJN fight the urge to sway verdicts in favor of his allies? How will his political meddling help to lower the already rising tension?
“We are now at a point where Nigerians feel the gains recorded in the new electoral laws and the reforms INEC put in place may be truncated by the judiciary whose head is now fully a politician,” he said.
The coalition pointed out that the country could do better by guaranteeing the processes through a non-partisan, credible judiciary, saying the CJN has shown this would not be possible with him at the helm of affairs.
“We hereby wish to invite all Nigerians to our zonal rallies commencing next week to seek the resignation of the CJN from his partisan position,” he stated.