Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday queried the propriety of three to five judges overturning the decisions made by millions of voters during an election in Kano, Plateau, Zamfara Appeals saying it is unacceptable.
Obasanjo made this comment at the high-level consultation on Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy in Africa, held at Green Resort Legacy, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State
He faulted what he labelled “cathedral pronouncements” by the judges.
According to the former president, the powers vested in the few judges is “totally unacceptable”, even as he cautioned political leaders on the dangers of injustice if the trend is not reversed by the Supreme Court.
“I believe whatever form of democracy we have or whatever system of government we have, three or four men in the judiciary should not be able to overturn the decisions of millions that have voted. Now, we have to find a way to handle that. I don’t know what the way will be but, for me, I think it’s totally unacceptable that millions (of votes), maybe 10 million on one side, maybe 9 million on the other side, then you have five people sitting down, three of them agree, two disagree, and you come up and make cathedral pronouncements that cannot be changed; I believe that should not be accepted.
“How do we do it? I don’t know. But whatever form of democracy we have, we should look at how to handle this. If you say ‘go again for election,’ then, what happened to the previous election? I don’t know. So, I personally feel strongly about.”