Metuh: Tribunal’s judgment won’t stand

Olisa Metuh, spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says the judgment of the Rivers state governorship election tribunal shows bias against Nyesom Wike and PDP.

The tribunal annulled the election of Wike and ordered that a fresh poll be conducted within 90 days.

But Metuh believes that the judgment is “part of the script by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate the will of the people”.

He said his party will do all within the ambit of the law to resist the verdict.

“The PDP had earlier revealed APC’s plot to use the judiciary and various security agencies to reverse PDP’s victory in Rivers, Delta, Akwa-Ibom, Taraba and Abia,” the statement read.

“The bias in the judgment against the PDP in Rivers as well as Akwa-Ibom is evidenced in the contradictions inherent in the trial process of the two cases and the verdicts therein.”

He said the tribunal based its judgment on the issues of card reader after the PDP and APC had agreed that card reader and manual accreditation were used for the election.

“The tribunal found it convenient to use legal technicalities to deny PDP victory in Imo, Lagos, Ogun and Yobe states,” he said.

“The same rules are misapplied to wickedly favour APC petitioners in Rivers and Akwa-Ibom states.

“This is a factor which portends great danger to our democracy and the stability of our country.

“PDP conceded electoral defeat in Edo, Anambra and Imo without attempting to collect victory through executive manipulation of the judicial process.”

He called on PDP members in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states not to be daunted, saying “the judgments against PDP will not stand the test of the law and the will of the people”.