As Nigerians continue to monitor the proceedings at the ongoing Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal currently sitting in the nation’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), renowned lawyer, and political analyst, Barrister Eze Eluchie has come out to insist that it was not a good idea for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to have refused to open its defense on petitions filed against it by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its flag bearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Recall that during court proceedings on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, lawyers representing the APC told the five-man panel of Appeal Court judges that it will not bother to open a defense against the PDP’s petitions because there was no need to “flog dead horses”, meaning that they do not consider the former ruling party’s case to be serious.
However, while appearing in an interview on Voice Of the People FM on Thursday evening, Eluchie argued that the APC’s refusal to take up a defense against the PDP’s petition was a mere attempt to play to the gallery because there is quite a lot of cogent constitutional issues that the petitions have thrown up that need judicial redress.
He said; “The APC’s statement that it will not enter its defense, is just playing to the gallery. Because there are very critical issues that are in the purview of the public and which point to the fact that the party has a herculean task to overcome to uphold its election victory at the Tribunal. First of all, they have the issue of the mandatory 25% FCT votes which their candidate did not get.
The second issue is the forfeiture of over four hundred thousand Dollars by the party’s flag bearer. What the Constitution provides for is if the person has paid a fine for any offense bordering on fraud and dishonesty. These are the exact terms used by the Constitution. It didn’t say that there has to be a conviction, but rather, a fine being paid by the candidate. And by all definitions, a fine is also forfeiture. So, the posture of the APC that they have nothing to defend is just merely playing to the gallery when substantial Constitutional issues are being raised by the petitioners at the tribunal.”
SOURCE: YouTube (Forward video to 12:55).
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