Presidential poll: Appeal Court president yet to respond to PDP’s petition asking her to stay off case

THERE was no word from the Court of Appeal on Friday over a petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asking  the court’s president, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa to hands off its petition against the conduct of the last presidential election.

Saturday Tribune was informed on Friday at the court that Justice Bulkachuwa was out of Abuja while no one was authorised to speak on the petition.

The spokeswoman of the court too could not be reached.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his party  asked the chairman of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) and the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa to excuse herself from the panel hearing the petition they filed challenging the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner of the February 23, 2019 presidential election.

In a letter addressed to the President of the Court of Appeal, dated May 8, 2019, the PDP and its presidential candidate stated that on March 7, 2019, court of Appeal panel in suit No:. CA/P/EPT/1/2019, led by Justice Abdul Aboki heard an exparte motion seeking to inspect polling materials in the custody of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The petitioners said they were surprised that the President of the Court of Appeal, on May 8, sat and presided over the five-man panel of the Court which conducted the opening of the pre-hearing session in their petition.

“We were surprised that your Lordship could choose to be part of the panel, talk less of presiding over the petition, which is between our party, the PDP and the All Progressive Party (APC), which members of your family, especially your dear husband are very active members”.

Atiku and his party stated that Justice Bulkachuwa’s husband, Hon. Adamu Mohammed Bulkachuwa contested the February 23, 2019 election for the PDP position of Bauchi North Senatorial District and won same on the platform of the APC.

• Presidential poll: Another party drags Buhari, INEC, APC to  Tribunal

“This information is not just in the public domain but has dominated both public and private discussions to the extent that it has become a source of worry, not just to members of our party, but to the generality of Nigerians because of your unique and critical position as the President of the Court of Appeal, which was saddled with the sacred responsibility of hearing petition arising from the Presidential election.

“This fear was palpable enough, not just with you as Appeal Court President, but had been worsened and compounded by the discovery that you  have decided to appoint yourself as the chairman of the panel to hear the petition,” the letter signed by the national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus and the national secretary of the PDP, Sen. Umaru Ibrahim Tsauri stated.

They held that Bulkachuwa, in her inaugural address made some remarks that were both frightening and heart-warming, when she said that, “elections are held in Nigeria every four years into elective positions, no matter how well the election is conducted, there are bounds to be complaints”.

This remark, they said rocked their confidence in the panel led by Bulkachuwa to determine their fate in an election, which could be one of the ones that were very well conducted, in her opinion.

“Given your direct intimacy through your husband, with the APC, one of the parties in the petition, your Lordship would have exercise your constitutional right and powers guardedly, judiciously and judicially by excluding yourself from the panel of this honourable court sitting over this particular petition,” the PDP stated.