Kalu Okwara
4 December 2008
Lagos — AFENIFERE Renewal Group, a socio-cultural and political organisation of Yoruba, has commended the judgment of the Thailand Court, which yesterday brought down the nation's government on the grounds of electoral fraud.
The group said the courageous ruling of the court was auspicious, given the fact that it came at a time Nigerians were also awaiting the verdict of the Supreme Court on the suits filed by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and General Muhammadu Buhari, challenging the victory of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.
"This expectation becomes more strident as an online journal Saharareporters has lately been speculating that a 5-2 victory may be awarded to the incumbent for political considerations.
"Afenifere Renewal Group holds that electoral manipulation has assumed a frightening proportion in Nigeria because at the critical moments of our history, the judiciary has always bent the law to suit political expediency.
"But we must not as a nation place all the responsibility for the validation of the will of the people on the courts alone. The awakened electorate in Thailand who have sustained their rejection of electoral fraud which was capped with a week-long shut down of the country's two main airports, are the greatest heroes of this earth-shaking development. For the Nigerian electorate, it is time to also get up from their slumber.
"Afenfiere Renewal Group commends the Thai protesters and their country's judiciary for this great contribution to democracy worldwide as we commend it as a manual for all peoples who want their votes to count," read the statement.
A statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the Group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, prayed that Nigerian Supreme Court Judges would find the same courage in giving their judgment on the case before them without yielding to any sort of pressure.
The Thai court yesterday dissolved the country's top three ruling parties for electoral fraud and temporarily banned the Prime Minister from politics bringing down a government that has been enmeshed in crisis following months of protests against its tainted victory.
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