PDP Challenges Buhari Over Alleged Holiday to Prevent Supreme Court Ruling on Tinubu’s VP, Shettima

The Peoples Democratic Party Wednesday challenged the Federal Government to speak out over an alleged plan to declare a public holiday on Friday May 26 as a ploy to prevent the Supreme Court from delivering its ruling on the alleged double nomination of the Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima.

NPO Reports that the apex court had set Friday May 26 as the date to deliver its ruling on the matter where the alleged double. nomination of Shettima is being challenged as illegal.

A statement by Debo Ologunagba, PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, said that the silence of the government after the reported plans went public was not good.

NPO Reports that an investigative journalist, David Hundeyin, had alleged in a twitter post that the president-elect Bola Tinubu had concluded plans to get the president to declare a public holiday on May 26 in order to prevent the apex court sitting.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) calls on the Federal Government and President Muhammadu Buhari to speak out on the alarming reports in the public space of moves to declare Friday, May 26, 2023 a public holiday as a ploy to stop the Supreme Court from sitting to deliver judgment on the disqualification case against the APC Vice Presidential candidate, Sen. Kashim Shettima, over double nomination, already scheduled for that date,” the party said Wednesday evening.

It went further to state that the government must “come clean on a further allegation, which is also in the public domain that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is mounting pressure on the Department of State Services (DSS) to advice President Buhari to declare the public holiday.”

Saying the silence by the government is “ominous” the PDP said the allegations are “grave” saying it is also heightening tension across the country.

PDP said this also has the capacity to trigger wide-spread crisis if not immediately addressed.

The statement went further, “Such reported sinister plot by the APC against the Supreme Court is consistent with the insensitivity, manipulation, abuse of power and process promoted by the APC as an act of governance in the last eight years. The PDP therefore calls on President Buhari to immediately douse the palpable tension in the country by making a categorical statement with regard to the reported plots by the APC to stop the sitting of the Supreme Court through the declaration of a public holiday.

“Nigerians across board are eager for the delivery of the judgement on the set date, Friday, May 26, 2023, in the disqualification case against Sen. Kashim Shettima, for double nomination as APC Senatorial and Vice-Presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections in violation of the provision of Section 35 of the Electoral Act, 2022. The APC must respect the independence of the Judiciary and the Supreme Court in the administration of justice as guaranteed under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and the Principle of Separation of Powers as enshrined in the Constitution.

“Nigeria is already strained and any attempt to impose a public holiday on Friday, May 26, 2023 as a ploy to stop the Supreme Court from delivering its reserved judgment is capable of increasing the tension with possible dire consequences to the polity.”

Shettima and Tinubu are billed to be sworn in on May 29. There have been reports of plans to truncate that plans.