Justice Ugo yet to resign but under intense pressure, journalist updates story
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Investigative journalist and a former presidential aide in the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Jackson Ude, has withdrawn his story over the resignation of Justice Boloukuoromo M. Ugo of the Presidential Elections Petition Court (PEPC).
In a story published on his website as well as his Twitter handle, @jacksonpbn, Mr. Ude had reported that Justice Ugo resigned from the Presidential Elections Petition Tribunal, citing pressure from the camp of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Jackson Ude had reported:
Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal Divided as Justice Ugo Resigns, Citing Demands to ‘Kneecap’ Democracy
In a shocking and unprecedented move, Nigerian Justice Boloukuoromo M. Ugo has resigned from the bench, citing demands from the executive branch that he believes would destroy the country’s democracy.
In a statement, Justice Ugo said that siding with the government on this matter would be the ‘death of Nigeria’s democracy’, and that he could not in good conscience remain silent. His resignation has sent shockwaves through the country, and raised serious questions about the state of Nigeria’s democratic institutions.
According to Justice Ugo’s statement, he was asked to ‘cripple the independence of the judiciary’ by ruling in favor of a certain political candidate, whom he did not name but is widely believed to be Bola Tinubu.
In addition to this, he was asked to suppress evidence and dismiss cases that could have an impact on the election.
Justice Ugo’s resignation has caused a serious uproar and a set back to the activities of the Presidential Election Petition Court. END.
In a later tweet entitled “Justice Ugo yet to resign despite pressure“, however, Ude said that Justice Ugo has yet to resign as at Thursday morning but that he is under intense pressure to so.
He tweeted:
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“Justice Boloukuoromo M. Ugo of the Presidential Elections Petition Tribunal is yet to resign despite pressure being mounted for him and two others to do so, according to new information available this morning.
“Tinubu and his team are working hard to threaten them to get one or two to resign so that the panel will be bereft of jurisdiction at this stage.
“This will lead to replacement and retrieval de novo in which case it will be statute barred outside the 180 days stipulated by the constitution and the end of the matter because the Supreme Court cannot extend the time.
“This is what they are working on to achieve.”
Stay tuned for further details…
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