In the wake of controversial claims regarding the authenticity and integrity of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPT) judgment, former Minister of Ation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has vehemently rebuffed such allegations, calling them an affront to the judicial system and the nation’s stability.
Fani-Kayode has spoken out against assertions that the judgment was authored or influenced by the President’s legal team. He has also denounced the insinuations that the President’s lawyers had access to the judgment before its formal delivery by the judges.
In a statement posted on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Fani-Kayode criticized the allegations as “insidious, savage, blatant, and vicious attacks on the integrity of the Judiciary,” marking it as a historical low in the country’s judicial discourse.
According to Punch paper, the controversy centers on the presence of a watermark on copies of the PEPT judgment bearing the inscription, “Tinubu Presidential Legal Team ‘TPLT’.” Critics have raised concerns that the watermark implies undue influence or manipulation in the drafting of the judgment.
However, Fani-Kayode endorsed an explanation provided by Babatunde Ogala SAN, the coordinator of President Bola Tinubu’s legal team. According to Ogala, the watermark was added to their copy of the judgment after they had collected it from the Court of Appeal, where the judgment was delivered. He clarified that the marked copy was then scanned and shared with members of their legal team, which is a standard practice.
Fani-Kayode dismissed any further insinuations beyond this explanation, characterizing them as products of mischief and deceit. He expressed concern that such allegations aimed to discredit the judgment, undermine the judicial process, and cast doubt on the validity of the President’s mandate and the election itself.
The former minister warned against the dangers of such disinformation, emphasizing that it could potentially incite disorder, protests, anarchy, and chaos in the country. He accused the purveyors of these claims of seeking to destabilize Nigeria and create conditions for a military takeover and the formation of an Interim National Government.
He concluded by affirming his belief that their plan and agenda would ultimately fail, as Nigeria would remain steadfast in upholding the rule of law and democratic principles despite the attempts to undermine them.
Diamond08 (
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