The leadership of Labour Party on Tuesday, raised the alarm that the party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have yet to receive the Certified True Copy of the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 poll.
It claimed that the apex court did not deliver a judgment on Obi’s case against Tinubu, describing the situation as embarrassing and depressing.
The apex court had on October 26 ended the 171-day legal tussle with the rejection of the election appeals filed by Obi and his Peoples Democratic Party counterpart, Atiku Abubakar.
In the lead judgment delivered by the Chairman of the seven-man panel, Justice Inyang Okoro, the apex court refused to consider the academic records of the President obtained from the Chicago State University, which Atiku sought to tender as fresh evidence to prove his allegation of certificate forgery against the ex-Lagos governor.
The other justices on the panel-Uwani Aji, Mohammed Garba, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Abubakar Tijjani, and Emmanuel Agim, agreed with the lead judgment dismissing Atiku and Obi’s appeals.
But one month after the judgment, the party’s National Secretary, Umar Farouk, lamented that they have yet to receive the CTC of the verdict.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Farouk also stated that the party found the position taken by the apex court regarding the judgment in her appeal ‘extraordinary, terribly shocking, most unprecedented and unacceptable.’
He said, “The LP had, out of an abundance of caution, by letter dated October 27, 2023, applied to the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court for the certified true copy of the judgment in the LP appeal. There was a reminder through another letter on November 8, 2023. However, to date, the requests have been ignored.
“The LP is also aware that by the provision of Section 294(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), every court established under the Constitution (which necessarily includes the Supreme Court) has a duty to furnish all parties to the cause or matter determined with duly authenticated copies of the decision within seven days of the delivery thereof. The Supreme Court has failed to do this in the present appeal.
“In conclusion, the LP finds it very embarrassing and depressing that the Supreme Court would, after hearing the appeal by our party, refuse to deliver any judgment and also fail to avail our party of any copy of whatever it considers to be its decision. This constitutes an unmitigated breach of the constitutional right of LP and her candidate to a fair hearing.”
According to him, the only area where the relevant parties agreed in the two appeals was 25 per cent votes in Abuja, noting that the other issues submitted to the Supreme Court for determination in the two appeals differed remarkably.
The LP secretary also expressed regret that the court failed to give a second thought to the grounds for appeal they raised such as the forfeiture of funds being proceeds of narcotics trafficking contained in the LP petition; double nomination of the 3rd Respondent (who was not even a party in the PDP petition) and failure to comply with the mandatory requirement of Section 73(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022, the consequence of which allegedly renders the election invalid.
Other sources of concerns Farouk raised was the Supreme Court’s refusal to consider the implication of the certified true copies of 18,123 blurred and unreadable polling unit result sheets they tendered in court after they were downloaded from the result viewing portal and the ones issued to the party and its candidate by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Obianeri, Awka
Lucky Okey, a Police inspector attached to the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo has died after going through brain damage arising from his accident from the governor’s convoy on August 6, 2022.
Okey reportedly fell and hit his head on a tarred road from a moving police van attached to the Governor’s office on official duty in the presence of the Governor and was immediately rushed to Amaku Teaching Hospital in the state capital.
The deceased hailed from Amata Akpoha Autonomous Community in Afikpo North Local Government of Ebonyi State.
His elder brother, Chukwudi Okey, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone on Tuesday, said the deceased died on Saturday after months of nursing the injury he sustained from the incident.
Chukwudi quickly denied the report making the rounds in the social media claiming that the governor abandoned his brother and family and allowed the deceased to “die misersbly” while nursing the injury.
He spoke on behalf of the family and also disclosed that the deceased would be buried on December 7, 2023.
He said, “Our son and brother did not die miserably. When the incident happened, Governor Soludo took care of him. He gave him 100 percent maximum attention at the hospital.
“The governor did all he could to save his life and the best medical doctors were assembled to take care of him. We are so grateful to the governor for his fatherly display and concern over the death of our son.
“We do not know where the report that the governor abandoned him emanated from and why the person behind it is out to tarnish the image of the Governor and the family or what he intends to achieve with that.
“We want to state it clearly, we do not know him nor authorise him to speak for the family. Our son, Inspector Lucky was single and not married.
“He had the accident on August 6, 2022, and not February as said by the so called publication.
“We urge the public to disregard the said publication. We beg all who are trying to use our son’s death to score cheap political points to leave our family and son out of this. They should allow us to mourn our son and let the soul of our beloved son rest in perfect peace.”
The Anambra State Government has also extended its “sincere condolences” to the family of the deceased.
The Press Secretary to the governor, Christian Aburime, in a statement he issued on Tuesday, said, “Before his death, Okey was a police officer who served as part of the governor’s security convoy until he was involved in an unfortunate accident in August this year.
“However, it is with concern that we address the fallacious claims made in an online report by one faceless ‘Marshall’ regarding the sad incident involving Mr. Okey.
“The report falsely insinuated neglect on the part of Soludo, alleging abandonment and a lack of proper medical care leading to Inspector Okey’s tragic passing.
“Contrary to these baseless claims, Soludo actually provided full support and assistance throughout Inspector Okey’s medical ordeal. All necessary medical attention and care were promptly administered to Okey following the accident.”
Aburime added that the state government ensured his medical bills were cleared, and his salaries and allowances were paid promptly until his unfortunate demise.
“Incidentally, all the acts of care and support by Soludo have been duly acknowledged by the late officer’s family who in their recent public statement appreciated the governor for his full support and denied the claims of ‘abandonment’ and ‘miserable death’ mischievously fabricated by the faceless ‘Marshall’.
“It’s disheartening to witness politically-motivated misinformation being disseminated, exploiting a tragic event to discredit the image of the state government.
“We urge the purveyors of this misleading information to refrain from exploiting such sad occurrences to score cheap political points.
“Notwithstanding the insincere criticisms, the Anambra State Government remains committed to upholding the welfare of all its citizens and will continue to support and prioritise the well-being of its dedicated workforce, including law enforcement officers who serve tirelessly to ensure the safety and security of our lives.
“The governor prayed that the soul of Inspector Okey rest in peace,” the statement added.
