THE candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Ikoyi Obalende Local Council Development Area (LCDA) during the October 22, 2011 local council election in Lagos State, Ibrahim Babajide Obanikoro, has decried the indefinite adjournment of the Appeal Court Tribunal sitting on the case filed by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and its candidate in the election, Mr. Wale Adeniji, against the judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal, which declared him (Obanikoro) the winner of the election on October 4 this year.
Addressing a pressing conference Friday, Obanikoro urged the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Philips, to urgently "wade into this matter to defend and protect the image of the judiciary in Lagos State and Nigeria."
According to Obanikoro, the indefinite adjournment of the case took them unaware as the tribunal had two weeks ago fixed November 15, for final argument and announcement of the judgment.
He said: "Two weeks ago, the court adjourned to November 15 (Thursday) for final argument and to announce date of judgment. We arrived in court yesterday and to our surprise, the secretary of the court announced an adjournment of the case sine die without reason. In the Nigerian history of election Appeal Tribunal, this situation will be precedent. There has never been a situation where the court adjourns sine die on an election appeal before hearing the case.
"Our investigation revealed that two petitions were filed against the judges, alleging bribery, corruption and questioning their integrity. We further learnt that one of the petitions was written and submitted by an ACN stalwart.
"I call on the Chief Justice of our great state, Justice O. Phillips, to stand on the right side of history and on the side of justice. There is a famous saying that 'justice delayed is justice denied'. There is an urgent need for you to wade into this matter to defend and protect the image of the judiciary in Lagos State and Nigeria. I am certain there are processes and procedures for dealing with matters of accusation and petitions as laid down by the National Judicial Council."
He added: "It was the courageous judiciary along side with the civil right activists in the U.S. that gave the world the American society of today which has become a pride to humanity. I call on you to allow, with immediate effect, the appeal tribunal to resume deliberations on our case and all other outstanding petitions. I also use this opportunity to call on stakeholders- the Nigerian Bar Association, National Judicial Commission, civil society organisations and elder statesmen-to wade into this very important matter.
