6th October, 2010
The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria has urged the judiciary to ensure it charts the path of honour in judiciously disposing of the Ekiti State governorship re-run elections petition instituted by the ACN candidate against the incumbent governor, who is of the PDP.
The party said the Nigerian judiciary must not allow desperate politicians to muddle its integrity in the quest for transient power, insisting that Nigerians look up to the judiciary for succor in the face of the remorseless inclination of the PDP to hold onto power at all levels and at all costs.
In a release in Lagos, signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Joe Igbokwe, the party says that the judiciary is presented with a golden opportunity to write its name in gold by the Ekiti governorship case, which has been twisted for long when it should be a simple issue that is clear to all and sundry. It said that the judiciary must be mindful of the public opprobrium some bad eggs on the bench has attracted to it and signal a fresh start especially as the 2011 elections draw nearer.
“We want to believe that the judiciary has learnt tremendous lessons from the unfledged public pillorying it has received in the hands of disappointed Nigerians who are saddled with and endless litany of miscarried justice and very controversial adjudications over the widely flawed 2007 elections. We know that the present leadership of the judiciary is mindful of the fact that Nigerians have come to associate the judiciary with so much sordid details of compromise arising from the handling of cases arising from the 2007 elections, adjudged the worst ever in the history of elections in Nigeria. we note that while the judiciary was able to redeem itself creditably in one or two instances, allegations of wide scale corruption, compromise and perversion of justice remained the hallmark of public perception of the judicial handling of the fallouts of that hugely scrambled election.
“The Ekiti electoral dispute presents one glaring case of controversial adjudication that is yet to clear and this has became a huge burden the judiciary must discharge else it gets further enmeshed in the deep-layered conspiracy to deny the Ekiti voters of their dully elected governor. We urge the Appeal Tribunal to remain firm and steadfast in ensuring that justice is done in Ekiti, no matter how long it takes. This will further strengthen the judiciary and its resolve to ensure that the integrity of the judiciary is preserved among selfish politicians who will do anything to take advantage of the electoral system for their selfish ends.
“Lagos ACN is perplexed that there have been reported attempts to divert or arrest the impending judgment of the Appeal Tribunal. This remains an audacious effort by electoral thieves to preserve their loot by all possible means. We therefore urge the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the President of the Appeal Court , who incidentally is handling the Ekiti appeal tribunal case, not to allow the integrity to be tied to the selfish interests of few desperate politicians and their ilks.†Lagos ACN is aware that all Nigerians know the details of what transpired during the re-run polls especially the infamous Ido Osi charade on which false platform, the PDP and Segun Oni is keeping the mandate freely given to Kayode Fayemi and the ACN. We believe this is the central key to decide who the truly elected governor of Ekiti State is and we believe that the judiciary will not allow further muddling of its name by pander8ing to the deadly wishes of the PDP.
“We urge the Appeal Tribunal to dispense justice on the Ekiti case without fear or favour and signal a readiness to tackle the fallouts of the impending general elections in 2011.â€