In a statement, the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said the judge’s suspension was a “brazen assault on the constitution”.
“In the first instance, we are suspending our campaign for 72 hours. It is our hope that President Buhari will listen to the voice of all lovers of democracy the world over and restore democracy in Nigeria immediately and without qualifications,” the PDP said in a statement.
The president on Friday said he had suspended chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen who has been asked to appear before a tribunal over allegations of breaching asset-declaration rules.
While responding to the suspension remarks through a telephone interview, All Progressive Congress spokesman Lanre Issa –Onilu said they were optimistic of a win and downplayed the suspension of campaigns by PDP terming it as an ‘excuse’ for its defeat.
“It is just an excuse they are looking for in order to escape the defeat that is awaiting them,” Lanre Issa-Onilu, a spokesman for the ruling APC, said in a telephone interview when asked about the suspension of the opposition’s campaign.
Onnoghen has since not responded to the charges and his lawyers say the tribunal does not have the authority to try him. This even as Buhari swore-in the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko before he left for Ibadan, Oyo State, to resume his re-election campaign.
PDP’s candidate, businessman Atiku Abubakar who served as vice president from 1999 to 2007, is the main challenger to Buhari in the upcoming poll.
