Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), yesterday, alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government is mounting pressure on the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Mohammed, to handpick Supreme Court justices that will hear the appeal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
The CUPP spokesman, Ikenga Ugochinyere, who made the allegation in Abuja, said the plot is a negation of the convention in the Supreme Court, where the seven most senior justices constitute the appeal panel for the presidential election petition.
He said the opposition will not accept any Supreme Court panel that did not consist of the seven most senior justices of the apex court.
“The opposition and most Nigerians will not accept a handpicked panel neither will the pronouncement of such panel command the requite respect and confidence of the people of Nigeria and we in the Opposition.
“The Supreme Court is for the people the last hope of the judiciary. The actions of the Supreme Court must inspire national confidence and deliver not just judgment but justice and that path to justice is not only about the law but about the ordinary man believing that justice has been done.”