The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, has refuted an online report that she sacked a five-man panel of Appeal Court judges handling the Delta State governorship election petition.
In a statement issued from the Appeal Court Headquarters, Abuja on Tuesday, Bulkachuwa said that she had no constitutional power to sack any judge.
The statement, signed by appellate court’s Head of Media/Publicity, Sa’adatu Musa, the president questioned the credibility of the media report.
She described the report as “misleading, malicious and attempt to ridicule the relentless efforts of the justices of the court.
“Our attention has been drawn to the online report by Sahara Reporters alleging that the President of the Court of Appeal sacked five justices who sat for the Delta governorship appeal panel over allegation of corruption.
“It is within the constitutional powers of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to discipline any erring justice found wanting in the course of his duties.
“Whoever can think of this kind of malicious story is ignorant of the workings of the judiciary.
“If at all complaints have been received of an erring justice, the appropriate channel to handle such complaints is the NJC which will in turn set up a disciplinary committee to investigate such allegations.
“Let me state categorically clear that, presently, there are no justices of the court of appeal that were sacked on the basis of corruption,’’ Bulkachuwa said.
Bulkachuwa admonished the media to always approach the court to verify their facts before any publication.
She also urged her colleague justices to be resilient and not to be distracted by the misleading report.
She stressed that the appellate court has a standing practice of moving its justices from different judicial division to ensure transparency and impartiality.
She explained that the justices which the online report alleged to have been so sacked were currently handling election appeals of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states based on the tradition of the court. (NAN)
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