The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has claimed the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are mounting pressure on the Supreme Court to sack Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue and Sokoto state governors.
The apex court is scheduled to rule on the APC’s appeals before them challenging the PDP’s victories in the March 9, 2019, governorship polls in the four states on Monday.
While the APC was in control of Bauchi and Adamawa during the elections, Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto) and Samuel Ortom (Benue) left the APC in controversial circumstances to join the PDP before the polls.
Meanwhile, the PDP has continued to cry foul over Tuesday Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling sacking Emeka Ihedioha as Imo State governor and declaring APC’s Hope Uzodinma as the rightful winner of as winner of the March 9 governorship election in the state.
Speaking at the 87th PDP National Executive Council meeting in Abuja on Friday, the party’s National Chairman, Uche Secondus, described the apex court’s verdict as a “miscarriage of justice”.
Secondus, who restated his condemnation of the November 16, 2019 Bayelsa and Kogi governorship polls, elections, accused the APC and the Federal Government of undermining democracy in the country.
He said, “The ruling APC and the Federal Government, combining effectively with the Independent National Electoral Commission and some security agencies including military, took the electoral manipulation to the next level.”
The PDP chief added, “The National Working Committee has credible intelligence that the Presidency and the APC leadership are still arm-twisting the judiciary to ensure that they deliver to them Sokoto, Benue, Bauchi and Adamawa while keeping Kano, which we clearly won.
“We have demanded the seven justices that participated in the Imo judicial fraud recuse themselves from the remaining cases involving the PDP.
“We know that the APC and President Buhari have taken our civility for a weakness and inability to act. The Presidency has even abandoned governance amidst the myriads of challenges facing the land and prefers to take issue with us as main opposition party, a deliberate policy to divert attention from their inept leadership.”
The candidate of the PDP for the 2019 presidential poll, Atiku Abubakar, said it had become necessary for the party to mobilise Nigerians to resist the threat to the nation’s democracy, unity and development.
The ex-Vice-President said, “ “Therefore, I will like to propose a strong committee to review the last elections and recommend to the party the needed reforms to address the challenges in the last elections be set up forthwith.
“But what cannot wait is that we should not take what has been happening in our democratic processes from the role of INEC, role the security agencies and the judiciary for granted.
“If we take all these roles for granted that will be the end of our hard-earned struggle and including our founding members, who are today not alive.
“What can we say we have done to their struggles as they lay in their graves?”
Spokesman for the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, who read the communiqué of the meeting, said they would adopt constitutional means, including civil disobedience, to ensure that the Federal Government respected the rule of law “and desists from influencing the judiciary, INEC and our security agencies”.
The National Organising Secretary of the party, Austin Akobundu, told one of our correspondents that the protest would hold on Sunday.
He said, “The protest is against the miscarriage of justice by the Supreme Court. It is also a clarion call to our teaming supporters and all lovers of democracy that on Sunday there shall be a nationwide civil and non-violent protest against the Supreme Court against our party.
“All protesters must dress in black and the procession must begin by 3pm simultaneously.”
Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, has accused the Peoples Democratic Party of attempting to blackmail the Supreme Court to get favour judgments in the Sokoto, Bauchi, Adamawa and Benue state governorship poll cases before the court.
Oshiomhole said calling for the resignation of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad, by the PDP was aimed at causing civil unrest in the country.
The former Edo governor stated this at a press conference in Abuja on Friday.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday sacked PDP’s Emeka Ihedioha as the governor of Imo State and declared his APC rival, Hope Uzodinma, as the duly elected governor.
The National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, while reacting to the judgment on Thursday, said the Supreme Court had compromised.
But Oshiomhole said the statement was not only designed to intimidate the judiciary but to lay a foundation for civil unrest.
