The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the presidential candidate in the 2019 general elections, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have petitioned the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, over the delay by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to commence hearing of the petition since the Appeal Court President stepped down from the panel. The PDP and Atikun protested the continued delay in replacing the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, in the five-man panel of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal after she withdrew from the panel on Atiku’s petition.
It was gathered that the legal team of the PDP and Atiku expressed perturbation that the judiciary has not yet made a replacement for the court Appeal President on the panel since the one week she withdrawal from the panel. The legal team was said to have revealed that the counsels have written the President of the Court of Appeal, protesting the delay.
ALSO READ: Bulkachuwa, Justice And Moral Burden
It was observed that the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Bulkachuwa, has the power to appoint a judge of the Appeal Court to serve on the Tribunal.
The PDP and Atiku lead counsel, Dr. Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), was said to have confirmed on Saturday that his team had written Justice Bulkachuwa reminding her of her promise to appoint her replacement, noting that the petition was “delivered at the President of the Court of Appeal’s office on Friday morning”.