PDP The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar and his party the PDP has asked the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) to replace tribunal chairperson, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, with another Justice of the Court of Appeal, citing conflict of interests and apprehensions over the likelihood of bias against their petition challenging the re-election of president Muhammadu Buhari.
The request was contained in the formal application by Atiku and the PDP, asking Justice Bulkachuwa to recuse herself or be disqualified from hearing their petition against the victory of President Buhari at the February 23 presidential election. The petitioners had at a pre-hearing session on Wednesday asked Justice Bulkachuwa to recuse herself from the hearing of their suit but, the five member panel presided over by Justice Bulkachuwa had asked the petitioners to come by way of formal application.
In the motion on notice dated May 16 and filed same day by their lead counsel, Levy Uzoukwu (SAN), the petitioners based their request on the claim that Bulkachuwa will be biased against them in the hearing of their petition against the outcome of the February 23 presidential poll. They believe Justice Bulkachuwa may not be fair and just because of the circumstances surrounding her family in the political undertones of the 2019 general elections.
In their joint petition against the return of Buhari as the winner of the Feb 23, 2019 poll, they prayed that Bulkachuwa disqualify herself from presiding and being a member of the presidential election petition tribunal that will hear their petition against Buhari. The application was predicated on five grounds and supported by a 19 paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Emmanuel Agbo, Deputy National Secretary of the PDP.
Amongst others, Atiku and PDP noted that that Justice Bulkachuwa is a wife to Hon. Adamu Mohammed Bulkachuwa who is a full-fledged member and a senator-elect from Bauchi state on the platform of the APC; a co-defendant in the case, and may not be able to give acceptable judgment in the petition. Besides, the petitioners claim Justice Bulkachuwa is the biological mother of one Aliyu Haidar Abubakar, a prominent card carrying member of the APC and a gubernatorial aspirant in Gombe State at the last general election.
The petitioners claim Bauchi is one of the focal States where the election of Buhari is being challenged and a State where Bulkachuwa’s husband won the senatorial election. Atiku and the PDP further claimed Justice Bulkachuwa is closely related to her husband that she cannot fairly hear and determine their petition without eliciting the suspicion and anxiety of all right thinking persons that she will not be biased against them.
They further argued that the likelihood of bias against them is very high, owing to the statement made by Bulkachuwa at the inaugural session of the tribunal, when she said that “no matter how well an election was conducted there are bound to be complaints. The question is not whether Justice Bulkachuwa acted overtly or omitted to act in a manner suspicious of his Lordship but rather whether his Lordship has lost the character of neutrality”, they submitted.
They therefore prayed for an order that Bulkachuwa should recuse or disqualify herself from further participating in the proceedings on their petition and be replaced by another judge in the interest of Justice. They urged the court to resolve the issue raised in their application in their favor
