The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) cried out that Supreme Court has gone into an evil alliance with ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) against the appeal filed by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, over the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
CUPP which on Tuesday, October 15, made this claim, alleged that there was a plan to alter the order of seniority which is used in appointing Supreme Court justices that sit on presidential appeal since 1979.
The coalition said it was suprising that both the apex court and the APC descended heavily on it for alerting Nigerians on the issue of appointment.
In a statement by the coalition spokesman, Ikenga Ugochinyere, said the Supreme Court, which is expected to be neutral on all issues, descended heavily on the coalition for alerting Nigerians on the issue that concerns them and the nation.
The statement read: “The CUPP and opposition have before now exposed the plan to alter the order of seniority which is used in appointing Supreme Court justices that sit on presidential appeal since 1979.
“We had insisted that the plan is to truncate the appeal filed by the coalition consensus candidate and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
”It is noteworthy that the attack on CUPP by the highest court in the land came less than 24 hours after the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) issued its own statement in which it threw caution to the wind, fired a childish arrow at the grand opposition alliance and said unprintable things about the opposition while not addressing the issues raised and making claims of Nigeria being an imaginary one party state.
”We know of a fact that it is not a coincidence that the two separate statements from the ruling party and the apex court came almost the same time. The releases were clearly syndicated.
“It is a confirmation of our long-time belief that something sinister is going on.
”They have confirmed that they are both reading from the same book and are on the same page.
“It is expected that those concerned will be coming out of their holes one after the other because the opposition has exposed them.
”Is there anything that this court wants us to do? Does the Supreme Court also want to curtail citizens’ freedom of speech? If the court can speak so harshly to citizens for expressing concerns about justice, then we are doomed to accept the gagging of media by the executive as a normal act. God help us.
”We are therefore assuring those who have made it their new occupation to be attacking the opposition that they will soon hear from the CUPP on indisputable facts and evidence of abuse of office against them which will put a big question mark to their continued stay in the public space.
”The Nigeria Opposition Coalition CUPP wish to state clearly that the only way out of this challenge is for the CJN to constitute the Supreme Court panel that will hear Atiku’s appeal in order of seniority in accordance with the age-long tradition that has been in practice since 1979.
“This will create a semblance of shielding the Supreme Court from the politics of the APC and hijack agenda of the federal government.”