November 16, (THEWILL) – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola and the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, to restore confidence in the Judiciary by immediately disbanding the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel.
The party made this known at a press conference addressed by its Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Illiya Damagum, in Abuja on Thursday.
The PDP said this is necessary in order to insulate the court from the alleged influence of the anti-people cabal seeking to emasculate the judiciary and impose a totalitarian regime in our country.
The party said this is the only way to avert a crisis in Plateau State and redeem the image of the Judiciary from further negative public commentary.
It said it will not relent in all its efforts to “defend and preserve our democracy, respect for the will of the people as well as the integrity of the Judiciary, particularly in the handling of electoral matters in the country.
“In this regard, the PDP invites all well-meaning Nigerians, Civil Society Organizations, the media and indeed all lovers of democracy across the world to rise to the occasion, speak out and take urgent legitimate steps to defend the integrity of our judicial system and stem a looming crisis in our beloved country.”
“Yesterday, our Party alerted that our nation is fast sliding into totalitarianism, following the activities of a cabal in the Presidency, which is out to emasculate institutions of democracy, especially the Judiciary in the desperation to subvert and overturn the expressed will of Nigerians in the various election matters across the country.
“Of particular concern is the perverse pattern and attempts by the APC to use certain highly compromised Electoral Petition Courts to snatch elections clearly won by the PDP and award them to the defeated candidates of the APC, who were rejected by the people at the polls in most States across the country.
“This sinister agenda tailored towards a systemic emasculation of the opposition and foisting of an oppressive one-party system is evident in the conduct and outcome of certain election petitions in Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Delta, Ogun and other States of the nation where the Election Petition and Appeal Panels were used to rob the PDP of victory won at the polls.
“Also of serious concern is the continuing stay of the patently bias Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel sitting in Abuja despite widespread demands by the people of Plateau State and the PDP for its immediate disbandment, having regards to its varying and contradictory judgments against the PDP, which are also in conflict with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act, 2022, INEC’s Guidelines and Regulations for elections.
“You will recall that on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, our Party addressed a press conference in which we alerted Nigerians of the dangerous pattern of conflicting judicial pronouncements by the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel to decimate and alter the expressed will of the people of Plateau State in the 2023 National Assembly Elections.
“Our Party, at that press conference, also raised concerns over allegations in the public domain that the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel has been hugely compromised and induced by the APC and the cabal to defy the will of the people at the elections.
“Allegedly, in the bid to assist the APC, the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel, in a clear departure from well-established judicial precedents on matters settled by the Supreme Court, delivered varying, contradictory and conflicting judgments on election appeals with the same subject matter, same facts, same circumstances and same applicable laws in bias judgements clearly skewed against the PDP in favour of the APC.
“Our Party exposed how, in a bizarre pattern, the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel ordered a rerun where the PDP won and the APC came third, while where the APC came second, it ordered that the Certificate of Return issued to the victorious PDP candidate be withdrawn and a new Certificate of Return be issued to the defeated APC candidate, who came second in the election.
“Of course, the judgments immediately heightened apprehension in the State, being a recipe for anarchy and chaos in an already tense Plateau State.
“This is especially as our Party duly conducted our Primary elections in Plateau State in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010, which was appropriately monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),” the party said.
The PDP further said, “Given the inexplicable infractions in the varying judgments and the grave tension they triggered in Plateau State, our Party, in line with the aspiration and expectation of the people of Plateau State, took a firm position and demanded that the President of the Court of Appeal immediately disband the allegedly compromised Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel.
“Our Party also demanded that a new Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel be constituted to hear the remaining appeals and that the manifestly biased and inconsistent judgments of the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel already delivered in the appeals be subjected to judicial review.
“To this effect, I, as the Acting National Chairman of the PDP, addressed a petition to the President of the Court of Appeal wherein I officially restated the findings and demands of the PDP against the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel.
“It is, however, curious and disturbing that up till this moment, none of the issues or demands made by the PDP has been addressed or met.
“The continuing stay of the Appeal Panel is clearly pitching the people against the court and the institution of the judiciary. It is vexatious, inciting and amounts to snubbing an affronted and injured people and daring them to do their worst.”
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
