The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caucus in the House of Representatives, yesterday, urged the National Judicial Council (NJC) to warn judges against being used to disrupt Nigeria’s democratic process.

In a statement in Abuja by the Leader of the Caucus, Fred Agbedi, the PDP lawmakers expressed concern over what they called a growing trend of judicial interference in the internal affairs of political parties.

They expressed concern that such a development poses a grave threat to the country’s democratic stability.

The caucus was reacting to the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which declined to grant an interim injunction seeking to stop the PDP convention scheduled for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, while also making orders they perceived to negate the benefits of his ruling refusing the interim injunction.

The suit was filed by Austine Nwachukwu, the PDP Chairman in Imo State; Amah Abraham Nnanna, Chairman of the party in Abia State, and Turnah George, the South-South Secretary of the party, asking the court to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to prevent the PDP from holding any meetings, congresses, or conventions pending the determination of their substantive suit.

The statement said that while Justice James Omotosho declined to grant the ex parte order, he ordered that any steps taken by the party during the pendency of the suit would be null and void.

The lawmakers noted that the judgment could be interpreted as indirectly enabling those seeking to disrupt the party’s activities.

The PDP Caucus said: “We are deeply concerned that despite repeated Supreme Court pronouncements against judicial interference in the internal affairs of political parties, some judges continue to make themselves available as instruments in the hands of desperate politicians seeking to subvert democracy and impose a one-party on Africa’s largest democracy.

“We are worried that while Justice James Omotosho refused the grant of the restraining order asked by the plaintiffs in this case, he still went ahead to declare that any action taken by party in preparation for its National convention during the pendency of the suit shall be null and void, might embolden anti-democratic elements determined to truncate the democratic process in Nigeria.

“These pronouncements clearly provide an enabler for those who do not want the PDP National convention to hold so that the main opposition political party in Nigeria will not be able to present candidates in the presidential and other elections in 2027.

“It is worrisome that while the court refused to grant the restraining order requested by the plaintiffs, it still made pronouncements that could be interpreted as providing legal cover for those intent on halting the PDP’s democratic processes. This, in our view, amounts to judicial overreach,” the lawmakers said.

The lawmakers said the principal actors in the desperate move wanted to manipulate the judicial process.

They said such people were known to have done similar things in the past, which the NJC frowned at, while the damage had already been done.

The lawmakers urged the National Judicial Council to act decisively to prevent any abuse of the judicial process that could undermine multi-party democracy in Nigeria.

“The survival of our democracy depends on the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary. The NJC must ensure that no court becomes a willing tool for the subversion of the will of the people or the destabilization of political institutions,” the statement said. (The Nation)