The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed concern over the alleged partisan rulings by some Election Petition Tribunals across the country, particularly in Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Delta, Ogun, and Plateau States.
The party accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of using these tribunals to snatch elections won by the PDP and award them to defeated APC candidates.
In a press conference on Thursday, the PDP Acting National Chairman, Umar Illiya Damagum, condemned the “perverse pattern and attempts by the APC to use certain hugely compromised Electoral Petition Courts to rob the PDP of victory.”
He described the situation as a “sinister agenda tailored towards a systemic emasculation of the opposition and foisting of an oppressive one-party system.”
The PDP also expressed concern over the continued stay of the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel sitting in Abuja despite widespread demands for its disbandment.
The party recalled that it had previously raised concerns over allegations that the panel had been compromised by the APC and induced to defy the will of the people.
The PDP accused the panel of delivering “varying, contradictory and conflicting judgments on election appeals with the same subject matter, same facts, same circumstances and same applicable laws.”
The party cited the example of a case where the panel ordered a rerun in an election where the PDP won, and the APC came third, but where the APC came second, it ordered that the certificate of return issued to the victorious PDP candidate be withdrawn and a new certificate of return be issued to the defeated APC candidate.
The PDP called on the judiciary to ensure the independence and impartiality of the courts, warning that the continued partisan rulings by some tribunals could lead to anarchy and chaos.
