The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, over the continued delay by the Court of Appeal in releasing judgments delivered on National and State Assembly elections in December last year.

In the petition signed by its Legal Adviser, Benjamin Israel Eke, the party said since the Court of Appeal delivered judgments on December 10 and 11 last year on the National Assembly elections in the state, it was yet to receive copies of the judgments, adding that same with the judgments on the state assembly elections delivered on December 21 and 24.

“Over 30 days after the delivery of judgments in respect of the National Assembly appeals, copies of the said judgments are yet to be released to the PDP. Again, My Lord, for more than 21 days after judgments were delivered in respect of the state assembly appeals, copies of the judgments are also yet to be released to the party despite repeated demands by the PDP and the respective counsel that represented the party in the said appeals,” it noted.

He, however, cited a Supreme Court judgment delivered January 8, 2016, between Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi and Aliyu vs Abdulazeez Abubakar Yari, where copies of the said judgments were released to the parties in the said appeal, on the same day.

“My lord, one wonders therefore why it would take the panel that heard and determined the River State’s appeal so long to release the judgments in question? We fear My Lord even as we conjecture that it is to doctor, patch-up and/or tinker the said judgment, especially as your lordship had admonished the Court of Appeal Justices against giving conflicting judgments,” he said.

The party therefore called on the CJN to use his good office to prevail on the President of the Court of Appeal to cause the said judgments to be released to the PDP.

Last year December, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja nullified the elections of some PDP National Assembly members and 16 PDP House of Assembly members on the grounds that their elections did not substantially comply with the Electoral Act.

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