*As analyst says aspect of FCT 25% will continue to haunt 5 judges
By OUR REPORTER
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Mba Ukweni, has reportedly called on Nigerians to refrain from demonising the nation’s judiciary.
Ukweni made the call during an interview on Thursday in Calabar.
Reacting to the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, which dismissed all petitions against election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Abuja on September 6, the SAN said the tribunal judges gave their judgment and made their positions based on the evidence placed before them and the law.
The senior advocate said there is an avenue for anyone who was not comfortable with the decisions to approach the Supreme Court.
“I don’t like a situation where the judiciary is castigated to the point of intimidation due to their work. The judiciary has had a lot of rough times in this country.
“Their has been the issue of undue interference with the judiciary, an arm of government that is supposed to be independent from the other arms and dispassionate.
“Judges are not infallible. It is only God who is. So, the public should be a little patient with the judiciary,” he said.
He added that what Nigeria needs as a nation are strong institutions.
The senior lawyer spoke as concerns continue to ruse over, especially how the five judges thought anyone would easily agree with them that all petitions before their tribunal were baseless.
Many Nigerians are also concerned that the judges could go ahead dismissing the petition on 25 percent votes in Feceral Caputal Territ, knowing full well that if Abuja were to be a state, indigenes would not have been agitating for a state of their own
“This aspect of the judgment, particularly, will continue to haunt the five judges in history because, they have created a serious constitution issue as they ruled that Abuja is a state yet there is no Governor that is chosen by election neither is there a state Executive Council nor state House of Assembly in the FCT.
“The judges knew this abd they knew the position of the Constitutionon it, that it is a straight part that needs no interpretation, according to Mr. Olusa Agbakoba (SAN),” a public affairs analyst said.
