Human rights lawyer and activist, Femi Falana, has accused social media influencers of intimidating the presidential election petition panel to deliver judgement in favour of their political candidate.
He, however, said the judges will deliver judgement based on the evidence presented before the court, and not some random intimidation from social media influencers.
Speaking on a programme on Channels Television, Falana said those attempting to blackmail the judiciary to give their political candidate a favourable verdict are “first-time voters.”.
The rights activist pointed out that it was the first time the judiciary will be witnessing “such level of intimidation and cheap blackmail” and queried why the judiciary was being pressured with what he referred to as “cheap blackmail” when anyone could still appeal to the Supreme Court if they don’t agree with the tribunal’s decision on Wednesday.
‘We have been having election petitions since the colonial era, but none has attracted such level of blackmail and intimidation of the judiciary,
“I am worried that people give the impression that everything ends with the judgment of the court of appeal.
“Any party that loses on Wednesday still has the opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court. So, what is the basis for the cheap blackmail that is going on?
“Some of the people involved are voting for the first time and they believe rightly or wrongly that their candidate must be declared the winner and I think that is what is going on”.
On Monday, the tribunal set September 6 (Wednesday) as the date to announce their decision on the petitions around President Bola Tinubu’s election.
