Governorship Candidate of Lagos State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election, Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran (Jandor), has requested that President of the Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Monica Bolna’an Dongban-Mensem, PCA. should transfer of his appeal of the decision of the State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which was in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to Abuja Division of the Court.
The PDP standard-bearer made this appeal on Monday through an official correspondence to the President of the Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Dongban-Mensem, saying that the request was made to ensure fairness and objectivity devoid of potential meddling.
A statement issued by Head, Media and Communications, JANDOR4GOVERNOR Campaign Organization, Mr. Gbenga Ogunleye, copy of which was made available to newsmen in Lagos, recalled that Dongban-Mensem had recently directed that all appeals arising from election petition cases across the country be transferred to the Abuja and Lagos divisions.
According to it, the directive was issued following allegations and petitions against state tribunal judges by some political parties and their candidates that the judges at the state tribunals had been compromised by governors.
JANDOR as the first petitioner in the Appeal case numbered CA/L/EP/GOV/29/2023, while making the request to the Court of Appeal president, equally expressed concerns that the influence of the ruling APC government in the state might affect the proceedings and the decision of the panel if the appeals were to be determined in Lagos states.
The PDP chieftain posited that since the president of the Court of Appeal had taken a huge step to ensure justice by transferring all appeal cases from the 17 states in the Southern part of the country to the Lagos Division of the Appeal Court, the case in Lagos State should likewise be transferred to the Abuja Division to safeguard neutrality, equity and discourage interference.