PDP Pressures Presidency To Tell Nigerians corruption issues against Appeal Court president
The Peoples Democratic Party has told the Presidency to come clean on the allegations of corruption it alluded to in the case of the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa.
The party said this on Sunday in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan.
The party had last week asked Bulkachuwa to excuse herself from the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal on the grounds that her husband, Adamu Bulkachuwa, is a card carrying member of the All Progressives Congress and a senator-elect on the platform of the party.
The PDP, however, said in responding to its position, the Presidency alluded to a corruption issue against Justice Bulkachuwa, demanding that Nigerians should be offered an explanation.
Ologbondiyan said in the statement on Sunday: “The attention of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been drawn to a press statement issued by the Buhari Presidency alluding to corruption allegations against the person of the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa.
“On account of this allegation and the nefarious plot to bring the name of our party into its narrative, the PDP charges the Buhari Presidency to come clear on the corruption allegation it opened on Justice Bulkachuwa.
“The party says since the Buhari Presidency has alluded to issues of corruption against Justice Bulkachuwa, contrary to issues raised in the PDP petition bothering on bias, it behoves on the Presidency and the APC to make public, the corruption issues they have alluded to.
“The Presidency should also take a step further by pursuing these issues of corruption just as it did in its case of corruption allegations against the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, instead of wickedly dragging our party into issues that have no bearing with the PDP.
“Now that the Presidency has informed the whole nation that Justice Bulkachuwa has issues of corruption, we challenge it to do the needful rather than engaging in shadow-boxing against our party.
“Moreover, in the face of corruption allegations, as has now been exposed by the Presidency, the burden still lies on the same Presidency to come clean.
“In doing that, the Presidency will be ranching on its established course, having hit the records of harassing and intimidating judicial officials; abuse of court processes and disregard for court orders.
“Our party holds that this Buhari Presidency’s fresh allegation of corruption now places a huge moral burden on Justice Bulkachuwa, particularly in her capacity as the President of the Court of Appeal.
“This is because, a judicial officer of such high standing must not only be above board but be seen to be above board at all times.
“Nevertheless, the PDP restates our demand for Justice Bulkachuwa to recuse herself from the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, following the manifest bias in her opening address that ‘no matter how well the election is conducted, there are bound to be complaints’.
“This is in addition to the fact that her husband, Hon. Adamu Mohammed Bulkachuwa, is a frontline leader of the APC, which is a party in our case before the tribunal.
“With these developments, it is certain that there is no way the PDP can obtain justice with Justice Bulkachuwa in the Panel.”