The All Progressives Congress (APC) has reiterated its earlier call for the arrest and prosecution of Ekiti governor-elect Ayodele Fayose for allegedly leading thugs to attack Justice Adeyeye on the premises of the State High Court on September 25.
This is even as the National Judicial Council (NJC), on Thursday, called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abbah, to take over investigation into the said attacks by suspected thugs.
According to a press statement signed by Soji Oye, the acting Director of Information in the NJC, the council also condemned the ugly incident and called for adequate protection of judicial officers.
Meanwhile, the APC warned that failure to act decisively now would spell danger for Judges and the nation’s democracy.
In a statement issued in London on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said the issue of security of judges and the unfettered administration of justice transcends politics, saying no politician, no matter his status, must be allowed to go scot-free after attacking judges.
It said any delay in taking action would see Fayose assume office, meaning he can no longer be arrested and prosecuted for what is an egregious contempt of court.
APC said the attack on judges in Ekiti has also reinforced the call in some quarters, on the basis of constitutional provisions, to subject candidates seeking political offices in the country to psychiatric tests, to prevent people with mental imbalance from taking over the affairs of states.
The party said those who are trivialising the issue and trying to play dirty politics with it should take a moment to think of what Fayose will do to judges whom he led thugs to beat up, when he assumed office as governor of the state.
‘’Now that the Chief Judge of Ekiti has confirmed, in a petition to the National Judicial Council (NJC), that Fayose was complicit in the attack, the NJC should treat the issue expeditiously by taking a decisive action that will make it very costly for anyone to ever attack a Judge again.
“The need to act is urgent so that no judge gets killed simply because some powerful personalities do not like his or her ruling.
‘’Had the relevant authorities acted with dispatch when another court in the same state was invaded by pro-Fayose thugs earlier the same week, the attack on Justice Adeyeye would have been averted,’’ it said.
