Soji Oye, director of information, National Judicial Council
(NJC), says Boloukuoromo Ugo, justice of the court of appeal, has not withdrawn
his membership of the presidential election petition court.
Umar Sani, a Twitter user, claimed that Ugo tendered his
resignation after citing “demands to knee-cap democracy”.
Sani alleged that the judge, in his letter, stated that he
was asked to “cripple the independence of the judiciary” by ruling in favour of
a certain political candidate believed to be President Bola Tinubu.
“Justice Ugo’s resignation has caused a serious uproar and a
setback to the activities of the presidential election petition court,” Sani
said.
However, speaking on Thursday, Oye described the claims as
“falsehood from the pit of hell”.
He said the allegations should be disregarded, adding that
the aim is to distract Nigerians and set the tone for a narrative, in the event
that the court’s judgement doesn’t favour the rumour peddlers.
Oye said the presidential election petition court will issue
a formal statement to address the issues.
When contacted, Josephine Ekperobe, secretary of the
presidential tribunal, said the story is “fake”.
She said she spent time with the judge yesterday and that as
of Thursday, she is yet to be informed of the judge’s purported resignation.
SUPREME COURT REACTS
TO REPORTS THAT TINUBU SPOKE WITH CJN
Ugo’s alleged resignation is coming barely 48 hours after
Jackson Ude, a Twitter user, reported that the president spoke with Olukayode
Ariwoola, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), over the outcome of the presidential
election petition.
Ude alleged that the CJN told Tinubu to prepare for a rerun
of the election.
However, Festus Akande, spokesperson of the supreme court,
said there was “no iota of truth” in the claim.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) also denied the
allegation by Ude.
Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, standard bearers of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), are challenging the
victory of Tinubu in the last election.
Abubakar and Obi recently submitted their final written
addresses after closing their respective cases at the election tribunal.
The tribunal is yet to fix a day for the adoption of final
written addresses and judgement in the petitions.
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