Rivers APC NASS candidates ask judge to recuse self in case seeking to disqualify them

Some candidates of the Rivers chapter of the All Progressives Congress APC for the 2023, have asked Justice Stephen Daylop-Pam of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt to recuse himself from Suit No: FHC/PHC/CS/127/2022: Peoples Democratic Party, PDP vs the Independent Natonal Electoral Commission, INEC and 17 others.

The suit seeks to disqualify all APC National Assembly candidates in the state over some irregularities.

Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt on Thursday, the candidate for Ikwerre/Emohua Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Ezemonye Ezekiel-Amadi, accused the judge of having a close relationship with Governor Nyesom Wike.

Ezekiel-Amadi who was speaking on behalf of the other APC NASS candidates said Daylop-Pam cannot deny his closeness to the PDP legal adviser in the state, Kingsley Chuku, pointing out that all suits filled by the party against other political parties in the state, were being handled by the judge.

He said: “Between July 25, 2022 when the matter came up in court and today, August 18, 2022, further applications have been made individually by the rest of us seated here today, to the Administrative Judge of the Port Harcourt Division as well as to the Honorable, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, requesting that the matter be withdrawn from Justice Pam and re-assigned to another judge of the Federal High Court preferably in Abuja.

“Today, we have gathered here – the 16 of us, individually and represented – as the National Assembly Candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2022 general elections, to add flesh to our collective insistence that Justice Stephen Daylop Pam recuses himself from the suit against us and before him.

“Permit us to place on record here that justice is rooted in the confidence of the parties to get justice and we do not have any iota of confidence in the outcome of this suit as long as it is allowed to be determined by Justice Pam.

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“It may not be possible for us as responsible citizens to publicly reveal and divulge all we know about the relationship between Justice Pam and Governor Nyesom Wike, the leader of the PDP in Rivers State as well as all we know today, that transpired in the VAT case between the Rivers State Government and the FIRS.

“But we are reminded of a Nigerian adage that when a child is crying and pointing to a particular place, either the child’s parents or toys must be in that place!

“We know that the relationship between Justice Pam and Governor Wike is a lot deeper than just casual. Any wonder why all the suits filed by the PDP seeking to delist other political parties from the 2023 election ballots, are all assigned to Justice Pam? And we are tempted to ask: Is Justice Pam the only judge in the Port Harcourt Division?

“There are no fewer than 79 judges of the Federal High Court in Nigeria today. Why then is Justice Pam the only judge to handle all cases of PDP seeking to bar all other political parties from the 2023 elections? Why? Is this not sufficiently curious as to arouse the suspicion of a discerning mind?”