Justice John Okoro Presides As Supreme Court Reserves Judgment In Atiku, PDP Petition

Ayuba Sanusi

IN a dramatic twist, Justice John Okoro today presided over the sitting of the seven-member Supreme Court panel to hear and determine the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the 25th February 2023 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

The seven-member panel include John Okoro, Uwani Abba-Aji, Lawal Garba, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Tijjani Abubakar and Emmanuel Agim.

Eighteen-Eleven Media reports that Justices Okoro and Adamu Jauro’s names were not in the original list made public by the apex court last week. The court had named Justices Musa Dattijo Muhammad, Uwani Musa Abba Aji, Lawal Garba, Helen M. Ogunwumiju, I.N. Saulawa, Tijjani Abubakar and Emmanuel Agim as members of the panel to hear the appeals.  

What this meant is that Justices Helen M. Ogunwumiju and Musa Dattijo Muhammad’s names were substituted.  No reason was given for this development.

•Justices of the Supreme Court.

Eighteen-Eleven Media observed that there have been reports of desire by at least three of the Justices to recuse themselves from the panel for reasons of conflict of interest, among others. 

Specifically, Justice Helen M. Ogunwumiju was mentioned to have two of her children linked to the All Progressives Congress (APC), one of the parties in the appeal. One of the children, Kehinde, a senior advocate of Nigeria, is said to be a member of the APC legal team while another is said to be a House of Representatives member, also on the platform of the party.  

Meanwhile, the reports of some Justices expressing the desire not to be part of the team were at the weekend denied. The Supreme Court’s Director, Press and information, Dr Festus Akande had while reacting to the report said there is no truth in such as all members of the panel are intact and ready to hear the petition on Monday (today).

“This is not true. The panel is ready. You will see all the Justices tomorrow (today). There is no crisis anywhere, as claimed by those online platforms.

“I assure you that the panel is intact and will hear the appeals on Monday,” Akande said.

However,  no reason was adduced for the latest volte-face. 

Our correspondent however reports that at today’s sitting of the court, the Justices reserved judgement on the appeal of Atiku Abubakar and PDP after hearing the submissions of the counsel. 

The seven-member panel of the Supreme Court led by John Okoro adjourned the case for judgment after taking the arguments of lawyers to parties in the suit.

Justice Okoro said a date would be communicated to lawyers when the judgement is ready.

Meanwhile, The APM has withdrawn its appeal challenging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s election victory after the Supreme Court chastised the counsel to the party  for bringing a frivolous appeal on an issue already decided by the court 

President Tinubu is now left with PDP and Labour Party appeals at the court

Also, the apex court reserved judgment on Peter Obi’s appeal seeking to invalidate President Tinubu’s election.

The seven-member panel made the announcement after taking arguments from lawyers to the parties on Monday.

“This appeal is reserved for judgment until a date to be communicated to parties,” Mr Okoro said.

During the hearing, Mr Obi’s lead lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), urged the court to allow his client’s appeal.

He prayed the court to set aside the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja which affirmed Mr Tinubu’s election on 6 September.

Eighteen-Eleven Media