APC Convention scuttles sittings by Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, others

The Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and Federal High Court have been forced to shift hearing in criminal and civil matters slated for today.

The courts put off their cases following the inability of judges, court staff and litigants to gain access to them.

All roads leading to the three main courts were effectively blocked to road users by fully armed security operatives.

The development, DAILY POST gathered, is part of security measures put in place to prevent possible disruption of the on-going National Convention of the All Progressives Congress, APC, at the Eagle Square, Abuja.

Our correspondent, who went round, observed that all the official buses of the courts conveying their workers were turned back from accessing the Three Arms Zone where the Eagle Square and the court are located.

All efforts by the Federal High Court workers in a bus at the National Mosque junction to persuade the security operatives to see reasons with them were unsuccessful as the police stood their ground.

One of the staff of the court, who communicated their ordeal on phone to a top official of the court, was told to return home with his colleagues.

The top official, whose name could not obtained, informed the stranded workers that the court authority has become aware of their plight adding that no single litigant was also allowed access to the court.

At the time of this report, the workers were seen returning home to avoid confrontation with the security operatives who claimed to be acting on orders from above.

In fact, one of the police officers while pleading for understanding of the aggrieved workers disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari will attend the convention, hence, the tight security.

The Director of Press and Information of the Supreme Court, Dr Festus Akande, confirmed that the security issue has kept several workers away but could not ascertain whether the court would sit.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Commissioner of Police (CP) Mr Babaji Sunday confirmed that police will effect traffic diversions during the primary around “the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Way by Court of Appeal, Behind Court of Appeal, Ecowas by Women Affairs.”

Other areas to be blocked are Finance, Behind Foreign Affairs, Kur Mohammed by National Mosque, Benue Plaza, NITEL junction, Phase 3, NNPC Tower, Ceddi Plaza bridge, Gana street by Transcorp, DSS Headquarters, Phase 1, NASS Junction, Bullet house and Bayelsa House”.

According to a statement by the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Josephine Adeh: “The All Progressive Congress (APC) Presidential primary election is scheduled to hold from Monday 6th June to Tuesday 7th June 2022 at Eagle’s Square.