In a statement, the coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), has raised alarm over an alleged move by the Court of Appeal President, Justice Z. A. Bulkachuwa, to disband the Kano State governorship Appeal Panel for the third time.
The statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of CUPP, Imo Ikenga Ugochinyere, said “The reconstituting of the Panel for the third time under very unclear circumstances even to the parties before the Court is arbitrary and has been viewed by mass of Kano indigenes as forum shopping and bastardization of the judiciary.
“Knowing that Kano State is a very volatile state, the President of the Court of Appeal is toying with national security and jeopardizing the lives of citizens by these frequent, suspicious and unexplained changes in the Panel?
“Will the President of the Court of Appeal admit that it was incompetence on her part that she needed to set up a Panel three times for an election Appeal where the difference in the declared election was so narrow? Could the President of the Appeal Court boldly notify Nigerians why she suddenly becomes uncomfortable with the Panel she set up even before they begin sitting?
“What was the error in the first panel that needed to be corrected in the second panel that could not also be corrected that warranted the third panel? Is the President of the Court of Appeal searching for a favourable Panel that will do an Oh Yes job for her to return the governor who was the candidate of the ruling APC party?
“The political interference in the judiciary has never been this bad. There are now allegations that members of the ruling APC now select the members of the Appeal Panels to hear their cases. They choose who to stays on the panel and who gets removed.
“These allegations are rife and the President of the Court of Appeal must dispel it and reassure Nigerians that what was done was for good reasons and actually state the reasons. It is a very dangerous trend for Nigerians to believe that judgments of Court are now for the highest bidder.
“It is a recipe for anarchy and resorts to self-help when citizens do not have implicit confidence in the courts. We call on the Appeal Court President to allow the already constituted Panel to start their work in the Interest of Justice.
“Nigerians hope that this is not the direct impact of the dollars that were shown in discreet videos being stuffed into the ‘babanriga’ of one of the interested parties in the election.
“The international community, particularly the American and UK governments, is invited to keep a close eye on the happenings in the Kano Appeal Tribunal and the office of the President of the Court of Appeal and take the necessary actions against any person whose action jeopardizes the lives of Nigerians and leads to breakdown of law and order.”