After Bayelsa verdict, PDP begs Supreme Court on Imo

Prince Uche Secondus, PDP National Chairman

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the Supreme Court not to succumb to the threats and blackmail to push it or restrain itself from looking at the merit of the application it filed for review of its judgment sacking Emeka Ihedioha as the governor of Imo State.
The opposition party said this while reacting to Wednesday’s verdict of the apex court on Bayelsa Governorship election.
The apex court had dismissed an application by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and David Lyon for the review of the verdict on the Bayelsa State governorship election.
The court also ordered the lawyers to the applicants, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, and Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, to pay N10 million each to each of the three respondents.
The seven man panel of Justices led by Sylvester Ngwuta dismissed the two applications for lacking in merit.
There are speculations that PDP’s application calling for the review of its judgment which resulted in sack of Ihedioha and declaration of Hope Uzodinma of All Progressives Congress, APC as the governor of Imo State.
But the PDP said the Supreme Court should not shy away from correcting the mistakes and reversing ‘flawed judgment,’ on Imo governorship election, in spite of its ruling on the Bayelsa matter.
The opposition party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja argued that the grounds for the reversal of Imo judgment were unambiguously, constitutional and completely distinct from APC’s demands on the Bayelsa and Zamfara  elections.
According to Ologbondiyan, the elements and grounds for PDP demands and majority of Nigerians for the reversal of Imo State Governorship election judgment were completely different from those of Bayelsa.
He said that PDP’s demand on Imo was not in any way in contestation of the authority and finality of the Supreme Court.
He said the demand was rather a patriotic effort to assist the Supreme Court affirm its infallibility by correcting the inherent mistakes in the judgment, which came as a result of misleading presentation to it by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“It is, therefore, instructive to note that the various election matters before the Supreme Court were brought on clearly distinctive grounds and each should be treated on its merit before the law,” he said.
Ologbondiyan  said the only reason APC was pushing for a review of the Supreme Court’s valid and flawless judgment on the Bayelsa and Zamfara Governorship elections was to cause confusion and blackmail the Supreme Court from treating the Imo case on merit.