Leadership

2023: AA Accuses Court Of Frustratin­g Cases Against Tinubu

- BY BODE GBADEBO, Abuja

Action Alliance (AA) has accused the Federal High Court, Abuja of aiding and abetting injustice by delaying its cases against the presidenti­al candidate of the ruling All Progressiv­es Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, the party’s national publicity secretary, Rev. Dennis Iheanyichu­kwu Ubani, urged the chief judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to resist the temptation and give the party the right to fair hearing.

He said, “Recent events in the portals of the Federal High Court, Abuja, have led us to the inevitable conclusion that there is water tight conspiracy to ensure that the pre-election cases of Action Alliance filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, to ensure the disqualifi­cation of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a presidenti­al candidate of the APC will never be heard until the effluxion of the time within which the matters ought to be determined.

“For the records, we instituted the following suits: Action Alliance vs INEC, APC and Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu (FHC/ABJ/CS/954/2022); Action Alliance vs INEC, APC, Ibrahim Kabiru Masari and Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu (FHC/ ABJ/CS/1097/2022).

“By Section 285 (9) of the 1999 Constituti­on, pre-election cases must be filed within 14 days of the happening of the event and determined within 180 days of the filing. The clear implicatio­n of this is that by the 15th day of December, 2022 the court would have lost the requisite jurisdicti­on to hear the matters and the cases would be struck out without a determinat­ion on the merits.

“Our observatio­n is that the judicature of the Federal High Court is not relenting in ensuring the frustratio­n of the two cases. We are convinced that the conductor of the bizarre orchestra is doing the bidding of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu. However, we are determined to ensure the failure of this heinous scheme.

“It is on record that about three weeks ago the chief judge of the Federal High Court against all known legal customs and practices, recalled the case files of the two cases for reassignme­nt.

“Expectedly, when we heard of the recall of the files, we knew that the serpent had slipped into the hallowed chambers of justice. Not surprising­ly since then the cases have been stalled.

“Arising from all the foregoing we hereby urge the chief judge of the Federal High Court to resist the temptation of aiding and abetting injustice by denying us our right to fair hearing. We have no hesitation in stating that what is happening is a personal agenda and cannot enjoy judicial immunity.

“Finally, we want to assure Nigerians that our avowed determinat­ion to enthrone a new Nigeria cannot be diminished by the political chicanery of anti-people agents. We are thus determined to ensure that we are not going to sheath our swords until the victory for Nigerians is attained. In this historic war for the birth of a new Nigeria we call on the judicature to stand on the side of justice,” it added.

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