TheCable

Uche Secondus, national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has alleged that the presidency is pressurising the supreme court to rule in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in its appeals challenging Sokoto, Bauchi, Adamawa and Benue governorship elections.

All four states were won by the opposition party in the March 9 gubernatorial election.

On Monday, the apex court is expected to deliver judgment on APC’s appeals challenging PDP’s victories in the states.

But speaking at the 87th PDP national executive council meeting (NEC) in Abuja, Secondus called on the judges of the apex court to disallow a repeat of their judgement in Imo state.

The apex court had on Tuesday sacked PDP’s Emeka Ihedioha as governor of Imo and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to return Hope Uzodinma, candidate of the APC, who came a distant fourth in the election.

Secondus described the ruling as electoral fraud, asking judges on the panel not to preside over any other case involving PDP.

“The ruling APC and the Federal Government, combining effectively with the Independent National Electoral Commission and some security agencies including military,  took the electoral manipulation to the next level,” Secondus said.

“The National Working Committee has credible intelligence that the Presidency and the APC leadership are still arm-twisting the judiciary to ensure that they deliver to them  Sokoto, Benue, Bauchi and Adamawa while keeping  Kano, which we clearly won.

“We have demanded the seven justices that participated in the Imo judicial fraud recuse themselves from the remaining cases involving the PDP.”

Secondus accused the presidency of abandoning its duties to “take up issues” with the PDP.

“We know that the APC and President Buhari have taken our civility for weakness and inability to act,” he said.

“The Presidency has even abandoned governance  amidst  the myriads of challenges facing  the land and prefers to take  issue with us as main opposition party, a deliberate policy to divert attention from their inept leadership.”