Former National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof. Wale Oladipo, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, to save the Judiciary from “imminent danger of being infiltrated and controlled by politicians.”

He spoke against the backdrop of conflicting orders and judgments emanating from different divisions of the Federal High Court and the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as they relate to the leadership crisis rocking the PDP.

In a statement issued in Abuja at the weekend, Oladipo said it was worrisome that after parties have been served court processes and have joined issues, they rushed to another court where they get pliable judges to grant ex-parte and conflicting orders and judgments within days.

According to Oladipo: “This ugly trend began with the Justice Mohammed Liman of the Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court. He granted an ex-parte order in respect of the same issues and parties on May 23, 2016, 12 days after the Federal High Court, Lagos, had made order which forbids the PDP from conducting any election into the offices of the National Chairman, National Secretary and National Auditor occupied by the first (Sheriff), second (Prof. Wale Oladipo) and third (Alhaji Fatai Adeyanju) plaintiffs respectively pending the determination of the substantive suit.”

“The same court granted an order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from monitoring and/or recognising the conduct of any election by the second defendant/respondent (PDP) into the offices of the National Chairman, National Secretary and National Auditor pending the determination of the substantive suit.”

Oladipo noted that while Justice I. N. Buba decided to return the case file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for administrative action upon being aware of the multiplicity of suits, Justice Liman of the Port Harcourt proceeded to hear the matter and went on to deliver a judgment that further re-affirmed the ex-parte orders within 40 days.

He, therefore, urged the President and the CJN to prevail on the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, to wade into the situation as head of the court and save the judiciary and democracy from an “avoidable crisis and embarrassment.”