The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kayode Ariwoola, to use his good offices to defend the integrity of the judiciary by immediately setting up a judicial panel of inquiry to probe the public boast by leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC) that the party has pliable persons within the judiciary to do its bidding on election cases.
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Debo Ologunagba, who made the call in Abuja yesterday, said: “Nigerians were appalled by such boastings as also contained in a viral video by an APC leader, Yusuf Gagdi, a member of the House of Representatives from Plateau State, wherein he said ‘we have gone to Appeal Court and the final destination is the Supreme Court and we will meet there. That is where we will know whom they know and they will know whom we know’.
Ologunagba further said: “The above statement by Gagdi further confirms the suspicion in the public domain that the APC has set up a special team, comprising two former governors who are also serving cabinet ministers and a prominent APC leader from the North East zone. ‘’They were given the mandate to ensure the inducement of certain judicial officers to deliver judgments against the PDP as being witnessed in the series of bias judgments by the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel.
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“This statement by Gagdi also lends credence to allegations that a former governor of the APC reportedly induced members of the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel to deliver bias judgment against Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s victory at the poll, contrary to the position of the law on nomination of candidates and already established pronouncement of the Supreme Court that a political party cannot interfere in the internal affairs of another party.
“Gagdi’s declaration perhaps explains why the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel snatched the victories won by PDP candidates in the National Assembly elections in the state and awarded same to defeated APC candidates in varying, contradictory and conflicting judgments in appeals with the same subject matter, same facts, same circumstances and same applicable laws.
“It is, therefore, not surprising that the current Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel, which has been accused of bias with many Nigerians calling for its disbandment, is the only panel dedicated ‘solely’ to all election appeals from Plateau State, contrary to practice.
“The conduct of the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel and the boastings of the APC is eroding integrity and confidence of Nigerians in the time-tested saying that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man.
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“More worrisome is that the public claim by the APC that it has persons, even at the Supreme Court, has directly put the integrity and honour of the highest temple of Justice in our country at stake.
“The loss of public confidence being generated by this claim has the capacity to push Nigerians to resort to self-help, which is a recipe for anarchy, chaos and breakdown of law and order in our country.
“The outcome of the appeals decided by the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel is generating serious tension in Plateau State as the citizens are already taking to the streets in protest.
“Our concern is that the situation is capable of escalating into a full-blown crisis in Plateau and other states of the federation if not immediately addressed.”
Ologunagba insisted that the judiciary remained the last line of defence for the nation’s democracy and political stability, demanding that the CJN, as the head of the judiciary, set up a high-powered panel to probe the claims by the APC of having persons in both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
He also asked him to investigate the bribery allegations against the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel.
According to him, “What Nigerians expect at this moment is for the judiciary to come clean on these grave allegations as well as uphold the primacy of pronouncements by the Supreme Court in the dispensation of justice on election matters.”
