PDP, human right lawyers seek Justice Bulkachuwa’s self refusal on presidential tribunal
More pressure have continued to mount on Chairman 2019 Presidential Election Appeal Panel, Justice Mrs Zainab Adamu Bulkachawa to refuse herself as not just the chairman but a member of the 2019 presidential election tribunal holding at the Appeal Court in Abuja.
Just as some legal experts including Laborious Oshoma have said the best bet to demonstrate neutrality in the presidential tribunal is for Justice Bulkachawa to refuse herself as a member based on the fact that her husband is a Senator-Elect of the ruling All progressive Congress (APC), the opposition Peoples Democratic party (PDP), has opened another can of worms linking the same Justice of the Appeal court.
PDP had weekend, called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the APC, to clear the air on allegations of corruption against Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, President of the Court of Appeal.
The party in a statement issued by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan averred that “on account of this allegation and the nefarious plot to bring the name of our party into its narrative, the PDP charges the Buhari-led Presidency to come clear on the corruption allegation it opened on Justice Bulkachuwa.”
According to the PDP, “Since the Buhari-led Presidency has alluded to issues of corruption against Justice Bulkachuwa, contrary to issues raised in the PDP petition bothering on bias, it behoves on the Presidency and the APC to make public, the corruption issues they have alluded to.
“The Presidency should also take a step further by pursuing these issues of corruption just as it did in its case of corruption allegations against the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, instead of wickedly dragging our party into issues that have no bearing with the PDP.
“Now that the Presidency has informed the whole nation that Justice Bulkachuwa has issues of corruption, we challenge it to do the needful rather than engaging in shadow-boxing against our party.
“Moreover, in the face of corruption allegations, as has now been exposed by the Presidency, the burden still lies on the same Presidency to come clean.
Continuing PDP argued that “In doing that, the Presidency will be ranching on its established course, having hit the records of harassing and intimidating judicial officials; abuse of court processes and disregard for court orders.
“Our party holds that this Presidency’s fresh allegation of corruption now places a huge moral burden on Justice Bulkachuwa, particularly in her capacity as the President of the Court of Appeal.
“This is because; a judicial officer of such high standing must not only be above board but be seen to be above board at all times.
“Nevertheless, the PDP restates our demand for Justice Bulkachuwa to refuse herself from the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, following the manifest bias in her opening address, ‘that no matter how well the election is conducted, there are bound to be complaints.’
“This is in addition to the fact that her husband, Hon. Adamu Mohammed Bulkachuwa, is a frontline leader of the APC, which is a party in our case before the tribunal. “With these developments, it is certain that there is no way the PDP can obtain justice with Justice Bulkachuwa in the panel.”
The presidency is yet to respond to the trending allegations of the opposition party.
