For the umpteenth time, the staff members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday asked the President of Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, who is also a member of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, to recuse herself from the tribunal.
The staff, who protested at the party’s National Secretariat, Wadata House, Abuja, said they would not allow some individuals in the country to hijack the collective will of majority of Nigerians, adding that Nigerians are tired of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari.

The protesters carrying placards with various inscriptions like, “Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa: You cannot preside over your own case;’’ ‘’Your husband is a senator-elect under APC;’’ ‘’Justice is not for the most powerful, it must be seen to be right and done and on moral grounds;’’ ‘’Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa excuse yourself from Presidential Tribunal;’’ ‘’We passed a vote of no confidence on the tribunal as long as Justice Bulkachuwa remains a member.”
The Chairman of PDP Staff Welfare Association, Mr. Clement Nwankwo, said the presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, could not reclaim his mandate as long as Bulkachuwa remains a member of the tribunal.
The protesters challenged the Nigerian judiciary to stand up to its statutory responsibility as the final arbiter in disputes, stressing that the judiciary must do what is just in the eyes of the law and in line with the mood of Nigerians.
Nwankwo said: “We are also aware that the President of the Court of Appeal and Chairperson of the 2019 Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, Justice Zainab Ahmed Bulkachuwa, is the wife of Ahmed Mohammad Bulkachuwa, the senator-elect on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), representing Bauchi North Senatorial District. This is completely unacceptable.
“We, therefore, fully support the call by the National Working Committee (NWC) of our party to demand that she recuses herself immediately from the panel.”
The protesters also decried the state of the nation, saying, “We are tired with the state of insecurity in the country; we are tired with the poor state of our economy; we are tired with this nepotic government; we are tired with the situation where majority of our citizens are living in lDP camps as if we are in a state of war. Nigerians are tired.”