- Unconfirmed reports particularly on social media allege each of the justices on the PEPT panel received Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00), whilst the chairman got Seven Million Dollars ($7,000,000.00).
The controversy over why the Certified True Copies (CTC) of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) bore the header of the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team continued beaming searchlight on the judiciary amid suspicious calls for all aggrieved parties to accept the judgment of the tribunal.
The Labour Party (LP) has called on the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), to explain to Nigerians the circumstances concerning the inclusion of the APC watermark on the certified true copies (CTC) of the PEPC judgement on the petition filed by its candidate against Bola Tinubu’s election.
LP in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said the explanation becomes necessary to douse controversy surrounding imprint on the PEPC document.
“In a highly contentious case with dire national interest and implications, confirming that the PEPC did not confer any advantage, rights, or privileges to any party is imperative.
“This development must be cleared up quickly to avoid conjectures and the belief that something untoward happened. This cannot be the case of another glitch,” the party stated.
LP disclosed that the counsel who collected the CTC judgement on behalf of the party and its candidate did so long after a representative of the Tinubu legal team had received them
The party said it is not satisfied with the explanation given by the APC legal team in an “unsigned and undated statement,” noting that a watermark is “a faint imprint
or design made on some papers during production and which can be seen when held up to the light. It helps in checking the genuineness of the paper.”
The party expressed disappointment at the delay by the PEPC in releasing the CTC judgement expeditiously, to enable it to file an appeal at the Supreme Court against the judgement.
The public is equally at pains trying to comprehend what is happening. Nigerians are curious about such happenstance that has inevitably generated storm and controversy.
“We call on the PEPC and APC to come clean on the CTC imprint and disclose whose imprimatur is inscribed on the entire judgment. Nigerians deserve the right to know and are demanding urgent answers,” it added.
The Peoples Democratic Party had earlier questioned the obvious watermark appearance on the CTC. The Party raised the alarm over what it termed “sinister Motive”, as observers and citizens alike now begin to ask, if the Nigerian state has been captured by a few
SOURCE: Channels
