N250m Scam: PDP Asks CJN, NJC To Disqualify Ogun Tribunal Judges

The Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has appealed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria,CJN and Chairman, National Judicial Council, NJC, to urgently “disqualify” the three Justices of the National and State Houses of Assembly Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, the state capital, southwest Nigeria, from continuing in the “determination of the remaining petitions,” before them.

The call to disqualify members of the panel, according to the party, is borne out of the need to forestall likely breakdown of law and order in the state, following fears that the party may not get justice in the remaining State House of Assembly petitions before them.

The party noted that seven of its petitions have already been dismissed by the Panel in favour of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidates because the three Justices were allegedly bought over with the sum of

N250m contributed by the beneficiaries (ACN candidates) of the judgment.

The party disclosed that the remaining petitions from it stand the risk of suffering similar fate like others that were earlier dismissed by the tribunal on the grounds that they lack merit, adding that, “most observers have termed it tenuous at best.”

“It appears that this will be the trend in all the remaining Houses of Assembly petitions and we have resolved to write the petition rather than wait until the damage is done,” the party said.

In the PDP petition dated 14 October, 2011 and written to CJN and NJC and which was signed by the factional Acting General Secretary, Alhaji Semiu Sodipo, of the Onikolobo office of PDP and made available to our correspondent, he stated that the party knows that provision exists for appeal but said the petition is for action to be taken to avoid a riot in Ogun.

“We are not unaware of appeal process available to dissatisfied parties but we write that because of the damage that a full-blown riot resulting from spreading information that the judges were bribed would not be remedy by filling an Appeal,” Sodipo stated.

Sodipo who claimed in the petition that he was personally present during hearings of the PDP petitions before the three Judges, alleged seeing some ACN stalwarts after the court had risen, entering the chambers of the Petition Tribunal with “bulky bag.”

“I have noted that there were some movements by some Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) stalwarts around the judges including a particular occasion when after the court had risen, I sighted some political appointees of the current governor entering the chambers of the judges with bulky bag,” he stated.

—Abiodun Onafuye/ Abeokuta