Panel on Atiku’s case not yet constituted, Supreme Court replies CUPP

The Supreme Court said on Monday that it had yet to constitute
the panel that would hear the appeal filed by the Peoples
Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar Atiku, to challenge the outcome of the February 23, 2019,
presidential poll.

It said the public would be notified when the panel was
constituted.

The apex court, through its Director, Press and Information, Dr.
Festus Akande, said this in a statement to contradict the media
claim by the spokesperson for the Coalition of United Political
Parties, Imo Ugochinyere.

The CUPP, through Ugochinyere, had alleged in the media that the
Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, had handpicked
judges of the apex court for the panel in violation of the
“tradition” of selecting the most senior Justices of the court.

The Supreme Court’s statement on Monday described the CUPP as
“blatant falsehood, misinformation and malicious rumour being
generously peddled by the Coalition of United Political Parties
(CUPP) through its spokesman, Imo Ugochinyere”.

It said CUPP “is not and can never constitute itself into an
agency of the Nigerian Judiciary or assume the role of an alternate
Supreme Court of Nigeria”.

The statement said, “The constitution of any panel to sit on a
matter in the court is the sole prerogative of the Supreme Court
and it is never an issue for the court to debate on the television
or pages of newspapers.

“We are not a political party or social club and should never be
dragged into any form of baseless pedestrian discussions that will
drive valid reasoning aground.

“Enough of this orchestrated falsehood and campaign of
calumny.

“We are here to serve the interest of the generality of the
Nigerian masses and not select individuals or groups with
inordinate ambition.

“As soon as the Presidential Appeal Panel is constituted, the
public will be duly informed as the Supreme Court is not a secret
society. Let us always observe caution when disseminating
information to the public.”

The Justice Mohammed Garba-led Presidential Election Petition
Tribunal had on September 11, 2019, dismissed the petition by the
PDP and Atiku challenging the outcome of the February 23, 2019
poll.

The petitioners on September 23, 2019, filed 66 grounds of
appeal before the apex court to challenge the judgment of the
tribunal.

The Supreme Court said on Monday that the appellants had yet to
file their appeal before CUPP came up with an imaginary apex
court’s panel that would hear it.

It stated that the CUPP’s action amounted to naming a baby
before it is born.

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EFCC Nabs Suspects for Illegal Broadcast of DSTV
Signal

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Uyo Zonal office
on Monday October 14, 2019 arrested two staffs of Communication
Trend Limited, Prisca Isaac, Sales Representative and Nwosu
Precious, Technician at 111 Atiku Abubakar Avenue, Uyo, Akwa Ibom
State for alleged illegal transmission of broadcast signals of
Multichoice (DSTV) to Uyo and environs without authorisation.

The company allegedly charges Three Thousand Five Hundred Naira
(N3, 500.00) and Seven Thousand Five Hundred Naira (N7, 500.00)
monthly as subscription fees to its customers using DSTV and other
decoders without permission.

The arrest followed a petition alleging breach of Multichoice’s
English Premiership broadcast rights.

During the arrest, the following items were recovered: 2 DSTV
Decoders, 1 GOTV Decoder, 28 Well-AV encoders, 3 Transmitters mode
ADC Telecommunications, 3 Modulators, 2 UBS DTX 1008 Transmitters,
2 Startimes Decoders, 1 Omovo TV Decoder, 1Trendy TV Decoder, 1 CTL
N7, 500 Subscription Recharge Cards, 1 CTL N3, 500 Subscription
Recharge Card, Tiger T1000 Decoder and 1 Starsat Decoder.

The suspects will be charged to court when investigation is
concluded.

Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity