By Eze Chidozie
Officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) were Tuesday sighted removing messages mounted on billboards at strategic places in Abuja drawing attention to Judges handling the Presidential Election Petitions on the need for them to uphold justice.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his counterpart of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, had approached the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to ventilate their disagreements with the announcement of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the February 25th Presidential election.
The court had adjourned to deliver judgment in the Consolidated petitions, on a date yet to be communicated to the parties.
However, on Monday, billboards surfaced in FCT drawing attention to the Judges handling the matter on the expectation of members of the public.
Picture of the billboards which was spotted at several parts of Abuja and on the Microblogging platform, Twitter, indicated that all eyes are on the tribunal judges.
The billboards were sponsored by Diaspora’s For Good Governance with inscription simply stating: “All eyes on the election tribunal.”
There had been calls on the judges in the presidential tribunal to rule in line with the prescriptions in the justice system of the country and not to be biased or pervert justice.
There have also been speculations which on different occasions have been denied that the judges are trying to keep President Tinubu in office despite alleged obvious reasons to rule him out of office.
As Nigerians await the ruling of the tribunal, Diaspora’s For Good Governance has indicated that the judges are being watched.
Nigerians believe that election tribunals have not been fair in administering justice, and had accused most judges and their judgements as off-shoot of bribery and corruption, rather than justice.
Critics who chose to be charitable to such Judges say they dispense justice based on technicalities, rather than purely based on law and evidence.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Olalekan Fadolapo, has queried the agency’s Director of Regulations over his approval of the advert.
Sources confirmed that if the Director absolves his office for the approval of the adverts currently positioned along major roads in various parts of the country, ARCON will pull them down.
Mr. Olalekan, in the query, noted that the advert “is a clear blackmail against the Nigerian Judiciary and the Honourable Justices of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.”
Stating that the advert is capable of instigating public unrest and breach of public peace, Olalekan said all advertisements that promotes a cause or idea capable of inciting national interest should first be brought to the Director General for review prior to presentation to the Advertising Standards Panel.
The Director General ordered the the Director, Regulations to explain why disciplinary actions will not be taken against him for dereliction of duty and asked that his reply should get to his office before the end of Tuesday.
Already, the billboards have been pulled down, sparking up reactions by members of the public.
