Melaye shuns Kogi tribunal, says INEC, judiciary threat to democracy

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the November 11 election in Kogi State, Senator Dino Melaye, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the judiciary of being the greatest threat to democracy in the country.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Melaye also declared that he will not approach the tribunal over the outcome of the election which he said was characterized by fraud.

Melaye flanked by members of the PDP and his campaign team said the judiciary is supposed to be the last line of defense of democracy and the rule of law.

“However, the judiciary itself has been on trial due to its tragic and glaring inability to inspire confidence and trust in its handling of electoral matters,” he said.

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He said as things stand in Nigeria, no discerning observer, no matter how charitable, can avoid the conclusion that the judiciary seems to have become a willing and potent tool in the hands of powerful forces that are bent on subverting democracy in Nigeria, adding that the common saying that the judiciary is the last hope of aggrieved citizens is now an empty slogan because “the judiciary is rapidly turning to the lost hope of the people of Nigeria”.

Melaye also called on all opposition political parties to “forthwith boycott all future elections unless and until the current INEC is dissolved and a new set of nonpartisan, Chairman and Commissioners are appointed.”

He said further “Participation by opposition political parties in future pre-written election results under a morally and ethically challenged Prof Mahmood Yakubu Electoral Commission amounts to giving legitimacy and credence to the continued rape of democracy in Nigeria.”

On why he would not approach the tribunal, Melaye said he would not dignify a “captured judiciary by filing a petition over Kogi Governorship election where majority of the results were written before the election day by INEC officials under the watch of Professor Mahmood Yakubu who has now earned the unenviable position of the most incompetent person to preside over the election management body in Nigeria.

“Why should any reasonable Nigerian go to the tribunal when the Judiciary has been captured and members of a political party openly dare the would-be victims of their infernal rigging machine to go to court,” he added.

He said the way the “so-called state independent electoral commission is constituted by governors with party members and supporters is what is now being brazenly applied to INEC at the Federal level.

“The capture of judiciary portends, citizens’ possible resort to self-help and that is dangerous for our society. Democracy dies when political elites repudiate or reject the norms and values on which democracy is practised and the judiciary is captured and unable to do electoral justice.”

You’re entitled to your opinion, INEC replies

However, in a swift response, Rotimi Lawrence Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, told Daily Trust that Senator Dino Melaye was entitled to his views.

“However, his utterance cannot, in any way, define the person and character of the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who is doing his utmost best to deepen the country’s electoral system in the face of daunting challenges,” Oyekanmi said.

He also said that INEC as presently constituted is widely acknowledged as contributing to democratic development of the country, even beyond expectations.