Atiku vs Buhari verdict: Keyamo disagrees with Prof Nwabueze

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN) has disagreed with the statement by foremost constitutional lawyer, Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN) that Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were not given fair hearing by the Supreme Court in its judgment in their appeal.

Keyamo said rather than crucifying the justices at the apex court for hearing the appeal on the 30th of October, 2019 and deciding same on the same date, they ought to be commended for coming to court prepared and hearing and dismissing the appeal with dispatch.

Prof Nwabueze had questioned the propriety of keeping the identity of the panel members till the day of the hearing, and accused the apex court of failure to grant Atiku and the PDP fair hearing in compliance with Section 36 of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution before arriving at the decision that the appeal lacked merit, which was made same day of the first hearing of the appeal on October 30.

But Keyamo said the “practice of keeping the identity of members of such an important panel anonymous has ostensibly been put in place to encourage neutrality and also to discourage contesting parties or members of the public from attempting to reach or compromise the Honourable Justices.

“This is more so because Prof. Nwabueze did not speak from the position of an elder Statesman. His affection and support for the PDP and its Presidential candidate was clearly in display before and after the election,” he said.

“His passionate, tearful embrace of Atiku Abubakar and his famous declaration that he would not die until Atiku Abubakar becomes President in 2019 was one of the high points of the last election.

“His wheel-chair appearance at the Court of Appeal in support of Atiku was also iconic. It was perfectly within his legitimate rights to take this position. After all, other eminent citizens of such age and stature also supported President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC,” he added.