Hours after the Supreme Court dismissed APC’s quest to get it to reverse its judgement on the Bayelsa gubernatorial election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it has uncovered a plot by the ruling party to frustrate the review of the Imo gubernatorial judgement.
The party stated this in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja.
The PDP said that the APC was mounting pressure on the Supreme Court not to “restrain itself from reversing the flawed judgment on the Imo State Governorship election despite obvious mistakes in that judgement, which is now threatening the stability of our nation”.
Recall that the apex court on January 14 sacked PDP’s Emeka Ihedioha as Imo governor and replaced him with APC’s Sen. Hope Uzodinma.
While hailing Wednesday’s judgement of the apex court which dismissed APC’s application for the review of the Bayelsa guber judgement, PDP said “that the elements and grounds for the demands by the PDP and majority of Nigerians for the reversal of Imo state governorship election judgment are completely different from those of Bayelsa”.
According to the party, its demand on Imo is not in any way in “contestation of the authority and finality of the Supreme Court but a patriotic effort to assist the Supreme Court affirm(s) its infallibility by correcting the inherent mistakes in the judgment which came as a result of misleading presentation to it by the APC.
“It is therefore instructive to note that the various election matters before the Supreme Court were brought on clearly distinctive grounds and each should be treated on its merit before the law.
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“The party said the only reason APC was pushing for a review of the Supreme Court’s valid and flawless judgment on the Bayelsa and Zamfara governorship elections was to cause confusion and blackmail the Supreme Court from treating the Imo case on merit.
“The PDP maintained that the grounds for the reversal of Imo judgment are unambiguously constitutional and completely distinct from APC’s attempt to blackmail the Supreme Court with their demands on the Bayelsa and Zamfara states governorship election.
“The party therefore urged the Supreme Court not to succumb to the threats and blackmail by APC to push it restrain itself from looking at the merit of the Imo case; correcting the mistakes and reversing the flawed judgment.”
Meanwhile, a seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta ruled that counsels to APC and its Bayelsa guber candidate, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) and Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) respectively, erred to have agreed to file an application for the review of the courts ruling on the election.
Justice Aminu Augie, who read the lead judgement with tears in her eyes, awarded N10 million to be personally paid by both lawyers to each of the three respondents – the Peoples Democratic Party, Governor Duoye Diri, and the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Lawrence Ewhruojakpo, bringing the total amount to be paid to N60 million.
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