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AC urges Court of Appeal to expedite action on pending cases

Sunday, 07 September 2008

The Action Congress (AC) has renewed its appeal to Justice Umaru Abdullahi, President of the Court of Appeal, to urgently set up panels to hear pending appeals resulting from rulings from the various election tribunals across the country.

In a statement issued in Abuja Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said any further delay by Justice Abdullahi in performing his constitutional responsibility would amount to a denial of justice and a damper on the country's democracy.

"For the umpteenth time, we will like to say that we have nothing but the utmost respect and reverence for the judiciary, which has been a shinning light in efforts to right the wrongs resulting from the massively-manipulated general elections in 2007, even though we have not always agreed with the rulings from the various election
tribunals.

"But we also owe it as a duty, as a major stakeholder in this democracy, to point out the growing perception in the polity that the judiciary has been colluding with the ruling PDP to pervert the course of justice. In fact, if an opinion poll were carried out today, most Nigerians will say that the judiciary is no longer the last hope of
the common man. This is dangerous and unhealthy.

"Yes, we are a partisan, but we love this country, we believe in this democracy and we want it to survive, because there is no alternative to democracy," AC said.

The party said it was absolutely unacceptable that almost 7 months after the Edo state election petition tribunal nullified the election of Governor Oserhiemen Osunbor, no panel has been constituted to hear his appeal.

It also listed other pending cases as those of Abia state, where Theodore Orji has appealed against the declaration of Chief Onyema Ugochukwu as the winner of the state's gubernatorial election in 2007, and recently in Ondo state, where Governor Olusegun Agagu has appealed against the declaration of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko as the duly elected governor.

Of course, there are also the pending retrials ordered by the Court of Appeal in Delta and Ogun states, AC said, wandering how long the listed cases will languish in the doldrums just because Justice Abdullahi has yet to carry out his constitutional obligation.

"These listed cases contrast sharply with the relatively-fast constitution of the panels to hear the appeals in Kogi, Kebbi, Sokoto and Adamawa, and we wonder what has suddenly changed to warrant an endless delay to hear the appeals in other cases," it said.

The party described as anti-democratic, unfair and unjust for state Governors whose elections have been nullified to continue to exercise stolen mandates, just because the Court of Appeal seems to have been frozen in time.

"This unjustifiable delay by the Court of Appeal is capable of making the people to lose interest in this democracy, it is a potential trigger for violence - which we abhor - and it definitely tasks the patience of those who have put their hopes in the judiciary,

"We appeal to Justice Abdullahi to act today. And if there is any reason why he cannot act, he should let the whole nation know, instead of keeping the people in an unnecessary suspense," AC said

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