Ahead of the much-anticipated judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal Court (PEPTC), popular human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Femi Falana, has blamed new voters during the 2023 general elections on the intimidation and blackmail faced by the judiciary.
Since the presidential election petition tribunal started sitting, the judiciary has been under intense pressure to give the right verdict.
This led to a popular slogan on social media, “All eyes on the judiciary,” which was mounted on billboards dismantled by the federal government.
Falana made the remarks while speaking during an interview session on Channel TV Politics on Monday, monitored by MUK TV.
He stated that the judiciary is faced with unprecedented blackmail and intimidation ahead of the judgment set to be delivered by the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, (tribunal) sitting in Abuja on Wednesday.
His words: “Some of the people involved are voting for the first time, and they believe rightly or wrongly that their candidate must be declared the winner, and I think this is what is going on.
“We have been having election petitions since the colonial era, but none have attracted such a level of blackmail and intimidation from the judiciary.
“I am worried that people give the impression that everything ends with the judgment of the Court of Appeal, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. Any party that loses on Wednesday still has the opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court. So, what is the basis for the cheap blackmail that is going on?
“As they say, even if the heavens will fall and the heavens won’t fall anyway, the judges must not be intimidated; they must give their decision regardless of blackmail or intimidation, convinced that they can justify their judgment.
“That is what is required of them—to examine the evidence, apply the law, and deliver a decision. One way or the other, some will lose, some will win, but those who lose in the case and are aggrieved will have another opportunity to approach the Supreme Court and demonstrate how the Court of Appeal has erred,” Falana concluded.
