Smarting from the shock of its loss of Imo state to the ruling All Progressives Congress via a Supreme Court ruling Tuesday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Thursday called for a reversal of the judgement.
In its ruling, the apex court sacked the PDP candidate in the state’s governorship election as governor and declared the fourth placed APC candidate, Hope Uzodinma as winner.
Expressing the party’s angst during a media parley at the party headquarters in Abuja, PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus said: “That the judgement of the Supreme Court voiding the lawful election of Hon. Emeka Ihedioha (who scored 276,404 votes) and awarding fictitious votes to declare Hope Uzodimma of the APC, who scored 96, 458 votes as governor of Imo state, is highly irrational, unfounded, a provocative product of executive manipulation and a recipe for crisis, which should not be allowed to stand.”
Secondus, who also demanded the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN Tanko Mohammed to step down, queried: “How many witnesses did Uzodinma/APC call from the 388 polling units from where the Supreme Court allocated votes to him? The so-called results from the 388 polling units were rightfully rejected, in line with several decisions of the Supreme Court, by the tribunal and Court of Appeal as it was merely dumped on the tribunal in a Ghana Must Go bag, by a policeman who had no mandate of the police to testify at the tribunal.”
He further claimed that: “In fact, in the cross examination of the APC candidate, Senator Hope Uzodinma, he could not read any figure from the “Oluwole” results. He said that the figures were not clear. And so it beats our imagination where the Supreme Court conjured and manufactured the figures it used in declaring Uzodinma/APC as duly elected.”
“Does the Supreme Court have powers to formulate and allocate votes as election results? Were the said results certified by INEC as required by law? Did Hope Uzodinma call 388 witnesses from the 388 polling units to speak to the results to obviate the principle of dumping which the Supreme Court used against the PDP and her candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the last presidential appeal? Were the presiding officers and or party agents of the 388 polling units called to testify by Uzodinma/APC, who were the petitioners? What are the figures from each of the various 388 polling units generated and allocated to Hope Uzodinma/APC by the Supreme Court?
“Is there any law which permits the Supreme Court or anyone else for that matter, to unilaterally increase the total accredited votes by any margin after the accreditation and or the election? Where did the Supreme Court get the numbers to declare Uzodinma/APC from a paltry 96,456 votes over Ihedioha/PDP votes of 276,404?” the party further queried.
Secondus also said: “Even if all the excess accredited votes of 127,209 manufactured by the Supreme Court were added to Uzodinma/APC, it will be 223,657 votes, still less than Ihedioha’s votes of 276,494 by 42,747 votes.
“The fact is that, the Supreme Court, as presently constituted under Justice Tanko, has lost its credibility and no longer commands the respect and confidence of Nigerians.
“We had intelligence before the verdict on the Imo governorship that the hierarchy of APC had decided that they must use the Supreme Court to capture the states won and controlled by the PDP such as Imo, Sokoto, Bauchi, Adamawa and Benue.
“The PDP therefore advises Justice Tanko not to allow himself to be used/to push our nation to the path of anarchy and constitutional crisis as any further attempt to subvert justice in the pending petitions on Sokoto, Bauchi, Benue, Adamawa as well as Kano and Plateau states will be firmly and vehemently resisted.
“In other to avoid an imminent breakdown of law and order, the PDP demands that Justice Tanko Mohammed immediately steps down as CJN and chairman of the National Judicial Council as Nigerians have lost confidence in him and a Supreme Court under his leadership. Justice Tanko must not head the panel to determine the remaining election petitions before the Supreme Court.
“In conclusion, in the light of extraordinary circumstances that vitiate that judgement as a product manipulation and a clear coup d’etat against the will of the people of Imo State, we demand that the decision of the Supreme Court on the Imo governorship election be reviewed and reversed in the interest of justice.”
BMO blasts opposition
But in a reaction, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) described members of the main opposition party as rabble rousers
In a terse statement sent to BlueprintThursday night, BMO Chairman, Mr. Niyi Akinsiju said: “The PDP’s call to the Chief Justice of Nigeria to excuse himself from the Supreme Court panel reviewing cases of gubernatorial election matters is typical of their usual desperate resort to rabble rousing and unreasoned incitements that are premised on laughable roadside rationale.
“That party is apparently peopled by individuals that have become so self-conceited that they suffer from an affliction of narrow vision.
“They have continued to show disrespect to eminent jurists that constitute the apex court of the land and have continued to blackmail in the most odious manners.”
