Elections in Nigeria come under justifiable suspicion – Ex-AGF

An erstwhile Attorney-General of the Federation, Kanu Agabi, has lamented the high rate of election rigging in Nigeria, noting that people who are suspicious of the electioneering process have justifiable reasons to do so.

Agabi, 78, who served as an AGF under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s programme, Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, on Sunday.

He said, “Take the elections for instance. Do you know how many percentages of elections are challenged? Why? Because the elections come under justifiable suspicions.

“Those who suspect the elections are justified but if we reach a point where the elections are not opened to the kind of criticisms and suspicions that they had been suspected, then they can free up the courts.”

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria noted that the nation’s judiciary system “is not perfect but it is the best arm of government,” just as he expressed worry over the humongous number of cases before the judges, saying they are “overworked.”

“We keep talking of reforming the judiciary. We keep attacking the judges, we stigmatise them, we abuse them, we insult but the truth is this: we have very good judges.

“The judiciary is not perfect but it is the best arm of government. The problem is this — On the judges’ lists, there may be 30, or 40 cases a day. How can he cope? As long as they go on struggling with that system, they cannot cope.

“The problem of the judiciary arises from the fact that the judges are overworked,” Agabi asserted.

He equally lashed out at political officeholders who got elected into their offices after rigged elections, noting that such elections can’t be blessed by God.

The ex-AGF said, “Primaries are rigged at the party levels. Giving a spiritual dimension, when you have stolen the office that you are holding, do you expect God to partner with you? Can you pray over that office? Can you use it to do any good? That’s the problem.

“St Paul said I am an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the grace of God. Whatever office you hold, you must be able to say the same thing. You must be able to say, ‘I am a governor by the grace of God’, ‘I am a senator by the grace of God’. If you can’t say that, your prayer in calling upon the name of the Lord in that office is an abomination.

“We are coming from colonialism but our leaders are taking us back for the love of more houses, more wives and more money.”