The
Rivers State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, is shocked at
how the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] has launched out on large-scale
smear campaign on the Nigerian judiciary following very recent court
pronouncements that appear not to favour the PDP and their candidates at
the various election petition tribunals especially the Akwa Ibom State
and Rivers State governorship election petition tribunals.
In what is
unfolding as an all out war, the PDP National Working Committee [NWC],
National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh and the various chapters
of the PDP in Rivers and Akwa Ibom States, have already thrown every
caution in the rule book to the wind in the way they are casting
aspersions on the integrity of respected members of the bench whose only
offence is that their meticulous and balanced judgments have exposed
PDP’s fraudulent and violent escapades during the 2015 general
elections.
The APC is worried
that a particular media outlet, the African Independent Television
[AIT], owned and operated by a PDP Chieftain, has offered itself as the
foremost platform for the PDP to execute its insidious smear campaign
against the Nigerian judiciary.
We would like to
recall that prior to last week, the APC have had a number of rulings go
against the party and its candidates at the various national assembly
election petition tribunals especially for Rivers State where over 90
percent of the rulings favoured the PDP and its candidates. Neither the
APC National Working Committee [NWC] nor the various affected state
chapters of the party came out to impugn the integrity of our judiciary.
The APC took those outcomes with equanimity and proceeded on appeal in
most cases without declaring and levying war on the judiciary the way
the PDP is doing now.
Particularly,
the PDP and their members in Rivers State, including even lawyers, have
since Saturday launched various bitter tirades against the character
and integrity of the Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal members.
Some have openly tried to establish family and marital relationship
between the tribunal chairman and some top government officials, knowing
same to be false, mendacious and malicious. The APC is still stunned
that the
Spokesman of the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Opunabo Inko-Tariah
would state that, “The tribunal has delivered the ruling it was asked
to deliver.” The APC condemns this kind of unguarded vituperation by a
government official against a tribunal of eminent judges.
In
summary, the APC understands that by turning to destroy the Nigerian
judiciary, the PDP is only employing its usual tactics of intimidation
and blackmail whenever their members find themselves at the wrong end of
the law, whether over corruption cases or electoral matters as is the
present case. This motive common with bandits and buccaneers have proven
to fail the PDP in the past and will surely fail them this time around.
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