The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the All Progressives Congress (APC) for publicly celebrating the commissioning of residential quarters for judges, describing it as a dangerous attempt to portray the Executive arm of government as the benefactor of a constitutionally independent institution.
ADC, in a statement on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said while judges deserve decent accommodation, security and proper welfare, those obligations are funded by taxpayers and must not be packaged as personal achievements of government officials or presented as political favours.
“Neither President Bola Tinubu nor Minister Nyesom Wike is therefore entitled to personal acclaim for discharging responsibilities financed from public funds,” the statement read, adding that awarding such credit creates the impression that the welfare of judges is “subject to the whims and caprices of government officials.”
The ADC was particularly critical of what it described as the APC’s attempt to cast the President and the FCT Minister as Patrons of the judiciary, warning that this sends the wrong signal in a democracy where separation of powers is a constitutional imperative.
The party noted the widespread publicity perception that both officials already wield undue influence over the courts and argued the APC’s statement only reinforces that concern. “He who pays the piper dictates the tune.”
The opposition party dismissed the APC’s claim that the project strengthens judicial independence, calling it “Orwellian irony,” and insisting that true judicial independence is measured by institutional autonomy, security of tenure and freedom from political pressure, not by buildings commissioned by politicians.
The ADC also called on the judiciary itself to be wary of the ethical implications of its relationship with the government, warning that the courts’ already-strained public trust could only be rebuilt when judges are seen as beholden to the law alone.
“The Judiciary belongs to the Nigerian people not to the APC, not to President Tinubu, and certainly not to any minister of government. The independence of the courts is too important to be sacrificed on the altar of political vanity and partisan self-congratulation,” the statement concluded.
