Tribunal Verdict: MURIC slams Catholic bishops over threats against Supreme Court

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has slammed Catholic Bishops for warning the judiciary ahead of the imminent appeal that petitioners who lost at the presidential election tribunal will file at the Supreme Court.

It will be recalled that the tribunal on Wednesday, September 6, reaffirmed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential polls.

The tribunal dismissed the petitions of Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).

The tribunal ruled that the petitioners' petitions lacked facts and merit. This verdict prompted Atiku and Obi to announce their intention to appeal the judgement at the Supreme Court.

Catholic Bishops reacts to presidential tribunal's judgement On the heels of this issue, Catholic Bishops appealed to the Supreme Court to be fair and critical in examining the appeal that would be brought before them.

Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), made this appeal on Sunday, September 10, in Abuja.

Reacting to the call made by the Catholic Bishop, the executive director of MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, accused the clergies of being biased against the winner of the presidential election petition tribunal.

As reported by Daily Trust, Prof Akintola said: “MURIC finds the bishops’ stand on the verdict pregnant with insincerity, double standard and bias against the defendants.

"In particular, we find the bullying of Supreme Court judges debasing, denigrating and totally unacceptable."

He further accused them of failing to control and advise the opposition against insults, blackmail, cyberbullying and threats made severally by their supporters.

He said: “Perhaps the bishops are comfortable when judges and members of their families are threatened and when the pictures of people’s children are sent to them as threats.

“Instead of speaking out against these bohemian attitudes, the bishops decided to set bad precedent by sending a chilling warning to judges of the Supreme Court."

Prof Akintola urged the Supreme Court not to be swayed by the threats of Bishops but to approach the cases brought before them with “truth, strength, vigour and faith.”

Tribunal judgement: Reno Omokri tells Peter Obi what to expect from Supreme Court

Meanwhile, Reno Omokri has predicted the kind of judgement the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, will get from the Supreme Court.

The Public affairs commentator said Obi should expect Supreme disappointment from the Supreme Court.

He accused the former Anambra state governor of allowing his lawyers to insult and supporters to threaten the judiciary.