Fayose urges NJC to probe Taraba tribunal judgment

Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to probe the Taraba State governorship election tribunal judgment which sacked Governor Darius Ishaku.
The governor described the court’s judgment as “judicial rascality”, adding that such conspiracy must not be allowed to go unquestioned.
The tribunal, which sat in Abuja, sacked the PDP governor and declared candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the governorship election in Taraba, Hajia Aisha Alhassan, as the duly elected governor of the state.
Fayose said from the Taraba State judgment and others involving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it appears that there are different laws for similar cases.
“Even when a judge has to exercise his discretion in a matter before him, such discretion must be exercised judicially and judiciously,” he said.
Fayose, in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, added, “instead of calling for Fayose’s head that they can never get, the judiciary must in the interest of democracy and rule of law purge itself of cash and carry judges that are giving tainted and contradictory judgments.”
The governor said though parties to the case have the option of appeal up to the Supreme Court, “those who truncated democracy in Nigeria through military coup must not be allowed to truncate democracy again through manipulation of a section of the judiciary and the Independent National Electoral Commission”.
He said: “There are no gods in the judiciary and if Ghana, a smaller country could suspend 22 judges over bribery allegation and probe 12 others, the NJC must not play ostrich to these Salamic judgments being delivered by tribunal judges. Those judges, who gave the Taraba State judgment, which is totally against the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and the one who took N15 million bribe in Yobe State must be investigated by the NJC.”
While accusing INEC of being part of the conspiracy against the PDP, the governor wondered why the commission did not raise any objection to Ishaku’s participation in the election when his name was submitted as PDP candidate, “only for it to now cook up report against the party at the tribunal”.
“There are serving governors and senators in this country who took part in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary election and after failing to pick the ticket, their names surfaced as gubernatorial and senatorial candidates of APC in their respective states. Can INEC tell Nigerians when it took part in the processes that produced those senators and governors as APC candidates?
There are also those who left PDP to become APC candidates, can INEC tell Nigerians where the primary elections that produced them were held?
This double-standard and conspiracy from INEC and a section of the judiciary against the PDP must stop”.