By Okon Bassey
About three weeks after the Governorship, National and state Houses of Assembly Petitions Tribunal in Akwa Ibom State were inaugurated, the two tribunals have now relocated to Abuja.
THISDAY gathered that the decision to relocate the two tribunals followed an alleged conduct by some parties involved in the petitions.
It was further equally learnt that the decision might not be unconnected with the security of the officials of the tribunals.
Though no official statement had been released by the secretariat of both tribunals, but a source in the secretariat, who pleads anonymity, confirmed the relocation of the tribunals to THISDAY.
One of the counsel to All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates at the tribunal, Mr. Fidel Albert, confirmed the relocation of the tribunals, saying it was announced during the Monday sitting of the tribunal in the state.
“The court announced that they are relocating but the venue is not officially mentioned. When enquiry was made as to why the relocation, the chairman said that the order was from the President of Court of Appeal,” the APC lawyer said.
Albert who is standing for 23 APC candidates in the National and State Houses of Assembly Tribunal, expressed concern that that some of his clients would be affected financially by the relocation.
According to him, the cost of transporting witnesses and materials would be high and burdensome for those clients with little finances.
Reasoning that somebody must have petitioned the President of Court of Appeal on the sitting, Albert said the relocation was for the cause of justice.
The governorship tribunal has Hon. Justice Goddy I. Anunihu from Imo State as chairman while Hon. Justice Rapheal Ajuma from Bayelsa State and Hon. Justice J. B. Olowosegun from Kogi State save as member 1 and 11 respectively.
At its inaugural sitting on May 19, the chairman of the tribunal had said since members of the tribunal are judges of superior courts of the country, with previous experiences in election tribunals and attended series of workshops and trainings organised by international agencies, they were prepared for the legal fire work in the tribunal.
“We want to assure you that we are here to work to ensure that the petitions filed before this tribunal are heard and determined judicially and judiciously. The watchword is always justice according to the law.
“As it is, there are two petitions pending before this tribunal. At the appropriate time we shall work together to determine how best to do justice to the two cases”, he stressed.
Anunihu cautioned that the tribunal shall not tolerate any politicians that will want to carry the nuances associated with politics to the tribunal.
“We shall appeal to counsel whose duty it is to direct and counsel their clients to assist us in resisting and overcoming any attempts to throw spanners in the works of the tribunal”, he stated demanding the highest degree of professionalism from lawyers in carrying out their functions in the tribunal.
“We urged the lawyers to work hard on their cases and be ready at all times to play their roles as officers of this court effectively. We are not prepared to tolerate frivolous applications that may delay or derail the job assigned to us,” he added.
Culled from THISDAY newspaper
No comments:
Post a Comment