| Atiku Abubakar |
Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Timi Frank, has urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Tanko Muhammad, to immediately constitute the Appeals Panel to hear the appeal filed by the PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar against the judgement of the Presidential Election Tribunal.
Frank accused the CJN of shopping for judges of the apex court who will be favourable to the APC candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that the order of seniority in the apex court should be allowed to prevail.
Frank said the CJN should constitute the Supreme Court panel based on the tradition of seniority and stop consulting or waiting on the advice of the presidency.”
In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, the former APC spokesman said it amount to injustice for the CJN to delay the constitution of the 7-man panel more than a month after the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) appealed the Presidential Tribunal’s judgement.
He alleged what he called an unholy alliance between the CJN and the presidency which is causing the delay in constitution of the panel, saying such move is dangerous for Nigeria’s democracy.
“The CJN must respect the normal tradition of following the order of seniority in selecting the justices. Even all the times Bubari himself had approached the Supreme Court in the past, order of seniority was followed. The precedent is set contrary to the ongoing shopping for judges who will be favorable to the whims and caprices of General Buhari and the APC.
“If anything contrary to the tradition of order of seniority which we all know is allowed to happen, that will confirm that the CJN has bowed to the pressure from the presidency and that will also confirm the allegation made earlier by the CUPP.
“It is obvious that the judiciary under the current administration seems to have been caged but it is high time our judiciary showed courage. The whole world witnessed the courage showed by the Supreme Court in the United Kingdom recently. Even in Africa, Kenya’s Supreme Court has also proven to be independent when it recently nullified presidential election of a sitting president; Nigeria’s judiciary must prove its worth in this case.
“A situation where the CJN has to consult the presidency or the AGF before a panel is constituted does not show an independent judiciary,” Frank stated.