Election Tribunal: Osun APC, PDP Trade Words
Osun state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP has alleged the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress APC of attempt to influence Osun election petition tribunal but the All Peoples Congress in its reaction accused the opposition party of plot to cause violence in the state.
The PDP had in a statement made available to newsmen in Osogbo by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary Prince Diran Odeyemi alleged that the ruling party has perfected the plot to use the husband of the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa, to circumvent the law and influence the election petition tribunals in Ekiti and Osun State which were constituted by her.
The party declared that the recent “gift” of the APC Bauchi North Senatorial ticket to Adamu Bulkachuwa, the husband of Justice Bulkachuwa, after he allegedly lost the primary election organised by the party to Usman Abubakar Tuggar is an indication of how desperate the ruling party has become to cover alleged several infractions it committed in Ekiti and Osun States which are now subject of litigations and pending before several courts in the country.
According to Odeyemi, the findings of PDP show that Usman Abubakar Tuggar, won the Bauchi North APC direct primary election in six of the seven local government areas in the Senatorial District, while his challenger, Adamu Mohammed Bulkachuwa won in only one.
He added that when the names of candidates for the 2019 national elections were released last week, it was Adamu Bulkachuwa that was named the APC senatorial candidate for the Bauchi North Senatorial District, the development according to him immediately sparked suspicion among political parties in the country.
Odeyemi alleged that the APC is trying to use Adamu Bulkachuwa as an access to his wife, Justice Zainab, whose Court will handle election petition cases as well as issues arising from primary elections.
Reacting, the APC Director of Publicity and Strategy in Osun Barrister Kunle Oyatomi in a statement said with the accusation of the PDP, the party has exposed its desperation to win at the tribunal even if the justices say it lost the election
Oyatomi said the PDP has no power whatsoever under the Constitution to question the authority of the judiciary in this matter, except of course it would sue for the removal of Justice Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa as President of the Court of Appeal adding that the onus of the proof of guilt rests on PDP.
According to him the APC is shocked that the PDP has condemned the reconstitution of the members of Osun election Tribunal and threatened violence if the PDP loses at the tribunal.
His words: In trying to run down the tribunal members and indeed the President of the Court of Appeal, the PDP accused both the President of Appeal Court, her husband and her son as certified members of APC, therefore the President cannot dispense justice in the matter”.
According to Oyatomi, the statement by the PDP is a forewarning to the security agencies that the PDP is preparing for violence if it loses at the tribunal.
