PDP flays Sagay’s aspersions on Supreme Court justices
By Tunde Opalana, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lampooned Prof. Itse Sagay for his derogatory aspersion on the justices of the Supreme Court over the judgement on eligibility of candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara state to contest the 2019 general elections.
Sagay, who is the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, described the nailing of the fate of APC candidates by the apex court as a national tragedy and unimaginable injustice.
The party said that Sagay’s comment signifies the desperation of the Buhari presidency for such a highly placed appointee of the government to cast aspersions on the integrity of the justices of the Supreme Court over the court’s widely accepted judgment on Rivers and Zamfara states elections.
The PDP held that Prof. Sagay’s resort to incitement and hate language against the Supreme Court justices further exposes the desperation of the Buhari Presidency and the APC “to cow, blackmail, intimidate and attempt to annex the judiciary, particularly, the Supreme Court” ahead of the determination of PDP’s presidential election petition now before the Court of Appeal.
In a statement Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said that Prof. Sagay’s comment has also revealed the level of condescension, derision and contempt the Buhari Presidency and the APC have for the justices of the Supreme Court.
“By declaring the upholding of justice by the Supreme Court as a national tragedy and unimaginable injustice, and suggesting that we (probably, his party members) should not allow the judgment as delivered, Prof. Sagay is calling for anarchy and rebelliousness against our constitutional democratic order and rule of law.
“Our party believes that such intentional attack on the integrity of the Supreme Court can only emanate from feverish apprehensions by the Buhari Presidency and the APC that they might not have their way in the presidential election petition, hence this resort to blackmail.
“As a law-abiding party, the PDP holds the integrity of the justices as well as the institution of the judiciary very high and do not support this attempt by agents of the APC to clip and sequester the judiciary for their partisan interests.
“The PDP insists that there is no way Prof. Sagay, a professor of law, can justify his call for the rejection of the Supreme Court judgment on Zamfara and Rivers states, as the judgments are in protection of the rule of law, democratic ethos as well as the wishes and aspirations of the people over the attempt by the APC to take control of their states through manipulations and awarding of fictitious votes to their candidates,” declared the party.
The PDP therefore, called on the Supreme Court justices to note the machinations of the APC and continue to be firm in upholding justice as has been demonstrated in the judgments on Rivers and Zamfara states elections, which serve as lessons to political parties to adhere strictly to rules of internal democracy in the electoral processes.
