President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been accused of hatching plots to weaken the judiciary in order to sway the decision of the members of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in the ongoing case brought by the opposition candidates.
Popular investigative journalist David Hundeyin made this claim during an interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90 Minutes Africa.
Hundeyin claimed that the APC made little effort to mount a substantive defense against the petition filed by Labour Party candidate Peter Obi, who challenged Tinubu’s eligibility to run in the 2023 election.
He went on to say that the ruling party’s aim is to either pay judges with money or to frighten them.
“They made very little attempt to present a case because their entire strategy seems to be built on compromising the judiciary,” Hundeyin alleged.
He believes that, while Obi is on track with his legal effort to reclaim his allegedly stolen mandate, the judiciary will give specious justifications based on technicalities, making outcomes difficult to predict.
“But Nigeria, being as it is, it means anything can happen. The judges may agree with the submissions of Peter Obi and the Labour Party but still give judgment against them based on technicalities. We have seen all sought happen in Nigeria,” he added.
The Peoples Democratic Party’s recall candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party are disputing the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) announcement of the governing party candidate as the victor of the February 25 presidential election.
Since then, all parties have submitted their last submissions in the matter, and the Tribunal has reserved decision for a later date.
