A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Samuel Okutepa has expressed worry over the future of democracy in Nigeria, insisting on judicial reforms to change the narrative.
Okutepa who gave the indication while delivering his keynote address at the first Inter Party Advisory Council Round table held in Abuja, faulted several judicial jurisprudence that have ridiculed the nations democratic journey.
Chief Okutepa who spoke on the theme: Role of the Judiciary in Nigeria’s democratic sustainability said Nigeria’s democracy has been militarized and thuggish prone, with unhealthy desperation by political actors to undermine the process.
The senior lawyer also criticized the courts for not doing enough to strengthen the nations electoral system.
Going further, Okutepa who reiterated that the court remains the last hope of the common man insisted on the need for court judgements on electoral disputes to be void of technicalities.
Earlier, in his welcome remarks, the Chairman of IPAC, Alhaji Yusuf Dantalle said the theme for the roundtable was informed by the perceived anarchy in the law courts with the rising perception of miscarriage of justice by some judgements.
As expected, the IPAC roundtable attracted key political stakeholders who in their remarks agreed that the judiciary must play pivotal role in the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria.
The urgent need for Judicial and Electoral Reforms to strengthen the nations democracy was also played up by various speakers at the Roundtable.
