Fayose to NJC: Probe Taraba ​Tribunal j​udgment

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Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, on Monday, asked the National Judicial Council, NJC to probe the Taraba State governorship election tribunal​’s judgement that sacked the state governor, Darius Ishaku, and announced Aisha Alhassan of the All Progressives Congress as the win​n​er of the April 2015 governorship election.

In a statement by his spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said: “such judicial rascality and conspiracy displayed in Taraba State must not be allowed to go unquestioned”​.​

He said having observed the Taraba State judgment and others involving the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, it appeared there were different laws being applied to similar cases by the election tribunal.

The governor said that “instead of calling for Fayose’s head that they can never get, the judiciary must in the interest of democracy and rule of law purge itself of cash and carry judges that are daily giving tainted and contradictory judgments”​.​

The governor, who said even though parties to the case have the option of appealing – up to the Supreme Court, “those who truncated​ democracy in Nigeria through military coup must not be allowed to truncate democracy again through manipulation of a section of the judiciary and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

“There are no gods in the judiciary and if Ghana, a smaller country could suspend 22 judges over bribery allegation and probe 12 others, the NJC must not play ostrich to these Salamic judgments being delivered by tribunal judges.

“Those judges, who gave the Taraba State judgment, which is totally against the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and the one who took N15 million bribe in Yobe State must be investigated by the NJC.”

While also accusing INEC of being part of the conspiracy against the PDP, the governor wondered why the commission did not raise any objection to Governor Ishaku’s participation in the election when his name was submitted as PDP candidate, only for the commission to now cook up report against the PDP at the tribunal.

“There are serving governors and senators in this country, who took part in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary election. After failing to pick the APC presidential ticket, their names surfaced as gubernatorial and senatorial candidates of APC in their respective States. Can INEC tell Nigerians when it took part in the process that produced those senators and governors as APC candidates?

“There are also those who left PDP to become APC candidates, can INEC tell Nigerians where the primary elections that produced them were held?

“This double-standard and conspiracy from INEC and a section of the judiciary against the PDP must stop because it is becoming more obvious that those who used the military to truncate democracy in 1983 are out to use a section of the judiciary to truncate our hard earned democracy,” he said.

Source: Vanguard