The Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, has said that the Supreme Court attack on the coalition substantiated its earlier claim about the sweetheart deal between the executive of the APC government and the judiciary.
The apex court had earlier rubbished CUPP’s claim that the executive had handpicked justices that will hear the PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar’s appeal against the earlier tribunal rulng upholding President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory at the Feb 23 poll.
But CUPP on Tuesday, through its publicity secretary Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, insisted that there was an ongoing plan to alter the order of appointing Presidential Election Appeal Panel and handpick the members.
“The Supreme Court has by that statement successfully descended into the arena, has taken sides and has decided to join issues with the opposition perhaps because the supposed quiet plan and alliance with the APC led Federal Government had been botched,” the statement read in part.
The group said what is expected of an apex court in situations like this is to reassure Nigerians of its independence, not to join issues with opposition.
“The CUPP and opposition have before now exposed the plan to alter the order of seniority which is used in appointing Supreme Court justices that sit on presidential appeal since 1979. We had insisted that the plan is to truncate the appeal filed by the Coalition consensus candidate and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
“It is noteworthy that the attack on CUPP by the highest court in the land came less than 24 hours after the APC issued its own statement in which it threw caution to the wind, fired a childish arrow at the grand opposition alliance and said unprintable things about the opposition while not addressing the issues raised and making claims of Nigeria being an imaginary one-party state.”
CUPP stated as a mater of fact that it is not a coincidence that the two separate statements from the ruling party and the apex court came almost the same time. The releases were clearly syndicated.
“They have confirmed that they are both reading from the same book and are on the same page. It is expected that those concerned will be coming out of their holes one after the other because the opposition has exposed them.
“The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammed, has, by this statement smelling of malice and hatred for opposition members, removed his mask and through the Supreme Court attempted to attack the integrity of the opposition grand alliance, the CUPP, and twist facts.
The group urged Nigerians to also note that nowhere in the entire statement did the Supreme Court summon the courage to deny the facts so clearly stated by the opposition, knowing the same to be true and correct.
“We are therefore assuring those who have made it their new occupation to be attacking the Opposition that they will soon hear from the CUPP on indisputable facts and evidence of abuse of office against them which will put a big question mark to their continued stay in the public space.”