Shettima: Declaring Friday public holiday will cause crisis, PDP warns Buhari

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari that declaring Friday, May 26, 2023 a public holiday as a ploy to stop the Supreme Court from sitting to deliver judgment on the disqualification case against the All Progressives Congress (APC) Vice Presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima, over double nomination, is capable of engineering crisis in the country.

The apex court has already scheduled the judgement for that date.

A statement issued on Wednesday by the National Publicity Secretary of the main opposition party, Debo Ologunagba, called on the President and his administration to speak out on the alarming reports in the public space about the moves to declare the holiday.

The PDP also called on the federal government to come clean on a further allegation, which is it said is also in the public domain that the APC is mounting pressure on the Department of State Services (DSS) to advice President Buhari to declare the public holiday.

The statement added: “The ominous silence by the federal government in the face of such grave allegations is heightening tension across the country and has the capacity to trigger wide-spread crisis if not immediately addressed.

“Such reported sinister plot by the APC against the Supreme Court is consistent with the insensitivity, manipulation, abuse of power and process promoted by the APC as an act of governance in the last eight years.”

The PDP, therefore, called on President Buhari to immediately douse the palpable tension in the country by making a categorical statement with regard to the reported plots by the APC to stop the sitting of the Supreme Court through the declaration of a public holiday.

It added: “Nigerians across board are eager for the delivery of the judgement on the set date, Friday, May 26, 2023, in the disqualification case against Sen. Kashim Shettima, for double nomination as APC Senatorial and Vice-Presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections in violation of the provision of Section 35 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

“The APC must respect the independence of the Judiciary and the Supreme Court in the administration of justice as guaranteed under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and the Principle of Separation of Powers as enshrined in the Constitution.

“Nigeria is already strained and any attempt to impose a public holiday on Friday, May 26, 2023 as a ploy to stop the Supreme Court from delivering its reserved judgment is capable of increasing the tension with possible dire consequences to the polity.”