The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of attempting to influence Supreme Court on the review of Imo State governorship election judgment.
The party warned the APC to desist from its attempts to sway the Supreme Court to jettison the demand by Nigerians for a judicial review and reversal of the judgment which sacked Mr. Emeka Ihedioha as the governor in favour of Mr. Hope Uzodinma.
The party also warned APC to end its alleged blackmail and lobbying the judiciary with the view to influence the Supreme Court to snub Nigerians and disregard calls to correct what it termed its manifest mistakes on the Imo judgment.
PDP, in a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, further berated APC leaders, particularly its National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, for attacking Nigerians and blackmailing the judiciary with alleged distortions, manipulations and misrepresentations of facts aimed at diverting attention as well as cowing the Supreme Court from delivering justice in the impending review.
“It is worrisome that the National Chairman of a political party will be making a public boast of a daylight political robbery and parading those who don’t mean well for the future of Imo State,” it said.
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The PDP said it was a waste of time to join issues with Oshiomhole in his alleged blackmail and misinformation, adding, “Our party affirms that our demand remains incontestable as the Supreme Court itself had in the past reversed its judgment after realising defects and subversion of justice in its judgment. The case of Johnson vs Lawanson (1971) 7 NSCC 82 is a clear precedence.
“We in the PDP believe in the finality of the judgment of the Supreme Court. But, we also believe that the Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court possess inherent right and powers to right every wrong that may be discovered in its judgment arising, as it were, from human errors such as happened in the Imo State judgment.
“We trust that the apex court will not be persuaded by the ill motivated campaigns of blackmail launched by the embattled Chairman of the APC from seizing the initiative presented by the application of Hon Emeka Ihedioha and our Party to delete this unjust page from the annals of clean records of justice.
“This, our party and Nigerians believe, will restore and strengthen the confidence of every well meaning Nigerian in the judiciary as the beacon of justice, vanguard of the rule, democratic principles, the sanctity of the electoral process and universal suffrage as well as the last hope of the common man always represented by a virile opposition which the PDP represents.”
The party explained areas if the judgment is reviewed would benefit Nigerians, adding that “aligning the result of the election with the total accredited votes which form the benchmark for all results in every electoral contest by correcting the ugly and unprecedented situation where the result as laid down by the Supreme Court is more than the total accredited votes.
“It will also correct the illogicality of having two governorship candidates for the APC in the same election as the apex Court had earlier ruled that Uche Nwosu was the validly nominated candidate of the APC and not Senator Hope Uzodinma declared by the Court as the winner of the same election on the platform of the same APC.
“The Supreme Court had also disqualified Uche Nwosu, the candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) from the election for having acquired the governorship ticket of two political parties; the APC and the AA.
“A judicial review on Imo governorship election is inevitable because by these earlier judgements of the Supreme Court, not only is Hope Uzodimma not a candidate, the judgments also nullified all votes credited to APC and AA as they no longer have candidates in the election.”
The PDP said that it was aware that the APC was mortally afraid of the review as they know that duty beckoned on the Supreme Court to hand justice in the matter and give victory to the rightful winner.
“This is why the APC has resorted to blackmailing the judiciary and seeking ways to divert public attention from the issue at stake,” it said.
The party urged the Supreme Court to be courageous in conducting the review as a duty it owes to redeem the image of the judiciary as well as save the nation from impeding political and constitutional crisis.
