Tribunal: Group protests over alleged attempts by Nasarawa Govt to influence panel members

From Daniel Abel, Lafia

A group under the auspices of ‘Coalition for justice’ on Tuesday appealed to the Governorship Petition Tribunal panel to remain neutral and avoid government patronage and undue influence capable of perverting justice.

Speaking during a peaceful protest in Lafia, the leader of the group, Hon. James A. Allu told news men that the group is demanding for neutrality from the tribunal to give the people of the state the confidence and hope that justice would be delivered in Nasarawa.

James Allu alleged that information obtained by the group reveal that there were moves to manipulate the tribunal by influencing the members ahead of the judgement, adding that the manner in which the state is hosting the tribunal judges in government owned facilities was already leaving the people with the doubts that the tribunal was on the way to compromise.

“We are already aware of how the government is working tirelessly to influence the judges using some of the retired Justices with high connections”.

“We however believed that the jurists will be conscious of their track records and will not put their hard earned reputation at stake by falling prey to the perceived antics and attempts being made to influence their judgement in Nasarawa”.

The coalition who claimed to be aware of several attempts to duplicate the INEC certified results legally given to the opposition PDP by the state INEC, and attempts to confuse the tribunal in their judgement, called on all involved to steer clear as such attempts would be resisted.

“We wish to notify all involved to desist from any attempt to temper with justice as it will only amount to further denting the already battered image the state is already known with before the international community”.

“We wish to state that despite the risk to personal safety we shall continue to fight injustice and impunity to defend our land. We desire to have a society of equity and not oppression”,

“Our Protest is not about us, it is about our communities. We hereby call on INEC to commit themselves to justice.

“We call on the Judiciary to dispense justice and all organizations involved to ensure that Nasarawa state is not mortgaged further”, the group stated .

“We shall adopt every modern strategy to ensure equity, fairness and justice are attained. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We want to state that we are caught in an inestimable network of sympathy tied with a single garment of destiny.

“Whatever affect one community directly affect all”, the group declared.