There was chaos on Monday at the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal venue for the hearing of the State and National Assembly appeal cases from Imo State, when the All Progressive Congress counsel, presented two petitions allegedly written by his clients accusing the three-member panel of being compromised.
In the letter, which was read by the presiding Justice, the APC accused Damian Dodo (SAN), whom they alleged to be counsel for one of the appellants of being the conduit to reach the panel headed by Justice Danjuma Mohammed, who is the presiding Judge of Makurdi Division of the Court of Appeal.
Other members of the panel are Justice Peter Affen from Yola Division and Justice Asmau’u Musa Mainoma, who is one of the newly appointed justices to the Court of Appeal.
However, Dodo was not counsel for the Peoples Democratic Party or Labour Party at any time in any of the pre-election cases or the main tribunal in Imo State.
Dodo was also not counsel for any of the parties at the tribunal and even before the Court of Appeal.
Following the development, the justices, after declaring their innocence, went a step further to recuse themselves from the appeals of Imo State.
Credit: The Nigeria Lawyer