Akpata, in a statement on Friday, expressed concern about the flawed recruitment process for Justices of the Appeal Court, noting that some candidates lacked basic legal knowledge, and he believes this portends poorly for the future of the judiciary and the country.
He described the Kano election appeal judgment’s discrepancy as “bizarre” and claimed it has further deepened the crisis within the Nigerian judiciary, leading to perplexing judgments.
“My position has also been very unfortunately vindicated by recent occurrences in our judiciary. A case in point is the scandalous and extremely embarrassing report of an apparent discrepancy between the judgment pronounced in open court and the Certified True Copy obtained from the Court Registry in the Kano State Gubernatorial Petition Appeal.
“This rather bizarre incident has further accentuated the crisis in the Nigerian
Judiciary, which is exacerbated by the many confounding decisions emanating from our courts that continue to bewilder and befuddle observers of this once-revered arm of government,” he said.
Akpata criticised the Appeal Court’s Chief Registrar, Umar Bangari, who attributed the discrepancy to a clerical error.
“I recently came across news reports from usually reliable media sources, quoting the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Umar Bangari, as having attributed the discrepancy in the said judgment to a clerical error. Furthermore, he is reported to have requested parties to the Appeal to apply to the Court to correct the purported error pursuant to Order 23 Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal Rules.
“With the greatest respect, the Chief Registrar’s approach to this matter is most untenable, as it flies in the face of reason and also does not conform with our extant laws on the subject.
“Whilst acknowledging the fact of human fallibility and the possibility of mistakes occurring, the fundamental nature of this “error” and the impact it has on such a consequential part of the judgment, make it extremely difficult to accept, without more, the aforementioned assertion by the Chief Registrar,” the Edo State Labour Party governorship aspirant said.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had last week affirmed the tribunal judgment which declared the All Progressive Congress candidate, Nasiru Gawuna winner of the governorship election.
The tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi Osadebay had nullified the election of Governor Abba Yusuf by declaring 165, 663 of his votes were invalid.
The tribunal held that the ballot papers were not signed nor stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Displeased by the tribunal verdict, Yusuf appealed against the judgment.
Delivering judgment on the matter last week Friday, the appeal court held that Yusuf was not qualified to contest the election.
The three-member panel led by Justice M.A Adumeh held that Yusuf was not in the membership register of his political party.
Citing a provision of the Electoral Act, he said a party must have the names of its registered members both in hard and soft copies.
The contradiction in the verdict and the CTC has generated confusion in the state as supporters of political parties protested across major parts of the State.
