Presidential Tribunal To Hear Application To Withdraw Justice Bulkachuwa On May 22

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday
directed the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar, to file a formal application asking the President
of the Court of Appeal and chairman of the five-man panel, Justice
Zainab Bulkachuwa, to withdraw as a member of the tribunal.

The tribunal gave the directive following the meeting the panel
members held with lawyers appearing in the case earlier on
Wednesday.

Announcing the tribunal’s decision, Justice Bulkachuwa said that
the petitioners’ legal team led by Dr. Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), asked
her to recuse herself from the panel at the meeting held in
chambers.

She said the request by the Uzoukwu followed an earlier letter
she received from the PDP’s National Chairman, Uche Secondus, also
demanding she disqualifies herself from further participation in
the panel.

She said since the matter was already in the public domain, the
panel had decided to have the issue treated openly.

Responding, Uzoukwu said his team would file a formal
application to that effect on Thursday.

The respondents’ lawyers comprising Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN),
Yunus Usman (SAN) and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) representing President
Muhammadu Buhari, the Independent National Electoral Commission,
and the All Progressives Congress, said they would need time to
respond to the application.

She then adjourned till May 22 for the hearing of the
petitioners’ application.

In its letter received to the Court of Appeal’s President’s
office in Abuja, on May 9, the PDP had alleged that as the Chairman
of the five-man panel, Bulkachuwa would likely be biased in the
handling of the tribunal’s proceedings because of her ties to
family members belonging to the All Progressives Congress.

The party, in the letter which was signed by its National
Chairman, Uche Secondus, and it’s National Secretary, Umaru Tsauri,
specifically said Bulkachuwa’s husband, Adamu Bulkachuwa, contested
and won the Bauchi North Senatorial District election on the
platform of the APC during the February 23, 2019 poll.

The party also complained that Bulkachuwa could have by a
comment she made during the inaugural sitting of the tribunal on
Wednesday, prejudged its petition challenging the outcome of the
February 23, 2019, presidential election.

It stated that Bulkachuwa’s claim in her speech to the effect
that there would always be complaints no matter how an election was
well-conducted, had “rocked” its confidence in the panel led by
her.

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!