The Middle Belt Youths Forum (MBYF) has described the recent attempt to blackmail the Appeal Panel for Imo State National/State Assembly elections by Echezona Etiaba (SAN) as the highest level of desperation to subvert the will of the people by stealing their mandate.
The group, which condemned the action of the senior lawyer at a press conference in Abuja addressed by Solomon Gan, alleged that Etiaba’s petition was at the behest of the Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma, and the South-East zonal leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
MBYF recalled how Etiaba, who is APC counsel in the Imo State National Assembly appeal cases, caused a commotion at the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal when he presented two petitions, accusing the three-member panel of being compromised.
The panel comprised the head, Justice Danjuma Mohammed, alongside Justice Peter Affen and Justice Asmau’u Musa Mainoma, who is one of the newly appointed Justices to the Court of Appeal, as members of the appeal panel.
“In a show of desperation on the part of his sponsor, Uzodinma, the APC South-East Zonal Chairman accused Justices of the Court of Appeal of having received bribes and such allegations when he had not known them before and has no proof.
“We have it on good authority that this is a way ochestrated plan by Uzodinma who is visibly afraid of the popularity and rising profile of some National Assembly members from Imo and want them removed by the Court and have his minions enthroned the same way he rose to become governor.
“Their plan is almost coming to fruition though it will not work. Because immediately after that perfectly acted drama, the innocent Justices who denied spurious allegations went a step further to recuse themselves from the appeals of Imo State.
“But we, like many other groups and people of conscience, urged the President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, to make sure that those upright judges handle the case.
“We will ensure the judiciary is not cowed or blackmailed into paving the way for an individual known for always subverting justice to achieve his desperation.
“We equally watched how a cross section of lawyers who were visibly angry at the turn of events, berated Etiaba for using his status as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria to present such allegation and defamatory petitions, which led the Justices to recuse themselves.
“This is enough reason for PCA and of course to disregard Etiaba’s antics and that of his paymaster and deliver justice on the Imo National Assembly election appeals and not create room for Uzodinma to leverage on his desperation which was realised at the ballot despite all state apparatus at his disposal.
“We also call on the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) to immediately look into this kind of unprofessional conduct. Etiaba cannot accuse a fellow SAN, Damian Dodo, of being in a matter when the records show that he said he was not involved in the matter. The APC lawyer’s allegations should not go without proper investigation,” MBYF stated.
