Tribunal’s Judgment Not Final, Parties Are Free To Approach Supreme Court, Says Femi Falana

Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, claims that the Supreme Court still has the option to hear an appeal, despite the court being subject to unprecedented threats and extortion over petitions related to the presidential election.

No election petition has garnered as much attention in the nation since colonial control, according to Falana, a guest on Channels TV Politics Today on Monday.

We have had election petitions since the colonial era, but none have resulted in this level of intimidation and judicial blackmail.

“I am concerned that some individuals could believe the Court of Appeal’s decision regarding the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal is the final word. Any appeals from parties that lose on Wednesday will still be heard by the Supreme Court. So what is the basis for this shoddy blackmail that is taking on, asked the senior attorney.

According to Channels TV, the senior attorney alleged that the extortion and compulsion were the fault of new voters who felt that their candidate had to be declared the winner, stating that this was not what election tribunals were there for.

The parties evidence must be taken into account, the law must be applied, and a decision must be made, he said.

“The judges must not be intimidated; they must publish their judgement regardless of threats of blackmail or other sorts of compulsion because they are confident in the legitimacy of their decision, as they say, even if the heavens fall and the heavens don’t fall nonetheless.

Then, after applying the law and the pertinent circumstances, they must decide. Falana said that although some people will definitely lose and other people will win, those who are unsatisfied with their results will have a second chance to appeal to the Supreme Court and demonstrate how the Court of Appeal made a mistake.

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