The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Bulkachuwa, has recused herself from presiding or being a member of the presidential election petition tribunal.
According to the report by Premium Times, the decision of Justice Bulkachuwa comes after a petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in the February 2019 presidential election.
Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa’s husband is a senator-elect of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), a ground upon which Mr Abubakar and the PDP asked her to recuse herself.
The judge announced her decision to recuse herself on Wednesday despite the panel ruling against the PDP.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has also denied that Justice Bulkachuwa was indicted by the agency, faulting the PDP for spreading fake news. This was the statement released by DSS disputing the claims by PDP that Bulkachuwa was indicted by the agency:
“The DSS remains unwavering in providing the enabling environment for the pursuit of legitimate aspirations by well-meaning and law-abiding members of the populace.”
The presidency has also slammed the PDP for peddling the false news about justice Zainab Bulkachuwa.
The senior special assistant to the President Buhari on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said in a statement in Abuja that reports claiming that the DSS had indicted Zainab Bulkachuwa of corruption, were designed to cause disaffection between the executive and the judiciary.
“While the PDP and its candidates are free to exercise their right to challenge the results of the 2019 presidential election, it is unacceptable to drag the name of the president or other organs of the executive branch into the campaign of character assassination against the President of the Court of Appeal.
“The DSS doesn’t conduct its duties in the manner so described and you can’t use a fake security report to drag the presidency into a smear campaign against the President of the Court of Appeal.
“Attacking judges because the outcomes of cases don’t favour you and keeping quiet when the verdict is in your favour smacks of insincerity, double standard and mischief. The PDP praised the verdict of the Osun gubernatorial election tribunal because it favoured them, but they are now singing a different tune because they lost their appeal.
“If the PDP continues to blackmail and smear judges with fake news stories, we will ultimately find ourselves dealing with a situation where judges may be afraid to handle cases, thereby creating delays in the dispensation of justice.”