Presiding Justice of the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal, M. L Garba has joined the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal replacing Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa.
Garba was on the five-man panel on Monday.
Justice Bulkachuwa recused herself as a member and head of the five-man panel on May 22, following the allegation of the likelihood of bias levelled against her by the PDP and Atiku.
The petitioners had alleged in their earlier application filed on May 16, 2019 that with the judge remaining as a member and head of the five-man tribunal, their petition would not be handled impartially.
They noted that Adamu Bulkachuwa, is a senator-elect on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party whose victory the petitioners are challenging at the tribunal. They also added that her son, Aliyu Abubakar, was a governorship aspirant on the platform of the same party in Gombe State.
Justice Bulkachuwa, who is the president of the Court of Appeal, withdrew for personal reasons despite a ruling in her favour that stated there wasn’t enough evidence to indicate she will be biased.
She said that she was glad the ruling was based on facts and the law, meaning another female judge will not go through the same ordeal.
PDP and Atiku filed a petition on March 18, 2019, challenging President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in the February 23 poll, and by law, the hearing must be concluded by September 2019.
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Garba was on the five-man panel on Monday.
Justice Bulkachuwa recused herself as a member and head of the five-man panel on May 22, following the allegation of the likelihood of bias levelled against her by the PDP and Atiku.
The petitioners had alleged in their earlier application filed on May 16, 2019 that with the judge remaining as a member and head of the five-man tribunal, their petition would not be handled impartially.
They noted that Adamu Bulkachuwa, is a senator-elect on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party whose victory the petitioners are challenging at the tribunal. They also added that her son, Aliyu Abubakar, was a governorship aspirant on the platform of the same party in Gombe State.
Justice Bulkachuwa, who is the president of the Court of Appeal, withdrew for personal reasons despite a ruling in her favour that stated there wasn’t enough evidence to indicate she will be biased.
She said that she was glad the ruling was based on facts and the law, meaning another female judge will not go through the same ordeal.
PDP and Atiku filed a petition on March 18, 2019, challenging President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in the February 23 poll, and by law, the hearing must be concluded by September 2019.
In this article: