Ekiti: Our Judiciary Is Endangered, – Group

A human rights group,
the Access to Justice (AJ) has said the recent closure of courts in Ekiti State amounted to one arm of government (executive) shutting down another the judiciary and showed that the judiciary is under threat.
It said the situation may have been seen as “fair politics to a lawless government,” but it was “crude politics” capable of wreaking incalculable damage to democracy.
“By doing this in Ekiti, the Goodluck administration has gradually ingratiated a virulent and pestilent form of executive lawlessness into our political and governance culture, the effect of which will endure for a long time to come,” the group’s statement signed by Chinelo Chinweze, said. It continued;
“The forced closure of courts by security forces under the control of the presidency is a blatant trampling on the judicial branch of government.
Closing courts under any circumstances has a huge and severe  consequences for governance and the rights and obligations of a lot of people.
“What has happened is that a branch of government effectively shut down the operation of another branch of government. One arm of government is now deciding when and under what conditions another branch of government can operate.
“This is an existential threat to the judicial function and is clearly a tyrannical use (or abuse) of power. In capriciously blocking physical access to the courts with force, the Jonathan Government has corruptly conscripted state power for illicit ends and has done incalculable damage to the rule of law”.