Atiku’s Aide: Billboards Can’t Stop Public Scrutiny of Judiciary

Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, who is also the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), emphasized that the judiciary’s role in handling election petitions for the 2023 general poll cannot escape public scrutiny.

He conveyed this perspective through a statement released by his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, in Abuja on Tuesday.

He was reacting to the destruction of billboards with the inscription “All Eyes on The Judiciary”.

Shuaibu said the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) could pull down all billboards carrying the advert across Nigeria, but the public eyes remained on the judiciary.

Shuaibu said that even arbiters of justice knew that all eyes were on them because of the historic nature of their assignment.

He faulted the dissolution of the advertising standard panel charged with the duty of ensuring that adverts conform with the laws of the federation as well as the code of advertising ethics of the advertising profession.

Shuaibu said the entire incident reinforced the argument that election cases in court ought to be completed before the inauguration of elected officials.

“The basic principle of social justice is about the people. The advertisers of the billboards only did what the norm is in civilized climes.

“It was the agents working to impress an interest that read meanings to that innocuous advert.

“Otherwise, it is a basic principle that eyes must be on the wheel of justice.

“Eyes must naturally be on the wheel of justice because when justice is delivered, it must be seen to have been just!” he said.