Posted by By MODESTUS CHUKWULAKA, Abuja on
Opposition parties in Kwara State have petitioned the president of the Court of Appeal, alleging that members of the state governorship and House of Assembly election tribunal had made up their mind to deny them justice against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in petitions arising from last April polls.
Opposition parties in Kwara State have petitioned the president of the Court of Appeal, alleging that members of the state governorship and House of Assembly election tribunal had made up their mind to deny them justice against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in petitions arising from last April polls.
In the letter, also copied to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), the parties said they had lost confidence in the tribunal, having had reasons to doubt the objectivity and impartiality of its members, and called for a new tribunal.
The parties, which wrote under the umbrella of All Parties Congress, Kwara State Chapter, said its misgiving about the tribunal was informed by the tribunal's ruling in the case brought against Gov. Bukola Saraki by the Peoples Progressive Alliance, which was challenging the exclusion of its candidate in the April gubernatorial election.
The tribunal, according to the opposition parties, had ruled that neither the PPA nor its excluded candidate had the ground to present the petition, hence it struck it out. However, the parties said they were dismayed and bewildered by aspects of the ruling.
Alleging that the tribunal members were not particularly candid in the judgement, they faulted the case cited by the tribunal to buttress its position that the PPA did not participate in the election by merely nominating a candidate for the election.
"The tragedy of the situation in our respectful view is in the distortion of the judgement of Kalgo, JSC referred to by the tribunal," the petitioners said, noting that a careful reading of the passage quoted by the tribunal showed that it had removed certain words from the original passage.
Again, the parties further alleged that the tribunal in its ruling had omitted some paragraphs of the petition, which clearly showed that the PPA candidate claimed he was screened and cleared for the said election for which he vigorously campaigned only to be excluded.
"We sincerely wonder how else the petition could have specified that the PPA participated in the election," they said, adding that they were thoroughly disillusioned by the ruling, which showed that the tribunal had a mindset to deny the petitioners justice.
Among those who signed the petition were representatives of Liberal Democratic Party of Nigeria (LDPN), Accord Party, Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), Fresh Democratic Party (FDP), Better Nigeria Progressive Party (BNPP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Congress (AC), Progressive Alliance Congress (PAC), Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA), National Action Congress (NAC), and Action Alliance (AA).