Election petition tribunal denies Wike’s application

The Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja on Monday dismissed an application by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, asking the court to relocate to Port Harcourt to continue its proceedings.

All Progressives Congress and its candidate in the April 11, 2015 governorship election, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, are challenging the declaration of Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party as the winner of the poll.

Ruling on Wike’s application for the relocation of the tribunal to Port Harcourt, where the tribunal observed its inaugural sitting, the Justice Muasu Pindga-led panel of the tribunal held that the motion lacked merit and substance. According to the panel, its sitting in Abuja did not breach any law since it did so based on security reasons.

The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Sainab Bulkachuwa, had directed the election petitions tribunals in some states comprising Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Yobe, Adamawa and Borno to relocate to Abuja because of security concerns.

But Wike and PDP, through their counsel, Chief Godwin Obla (SAN), had filed an application challenging the powers of the President of the Court of Appeal to direct the tribunal to sit in Abuja instead of the state where the election in dispute emanated. They claimed that the sitting of the tribunal in Abuja was in breach of section 285 (2) of the 1999 Constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act 2010.

Obla therefore urged the tribunal to relocate to Port Harcourt in compliance with the provisions of section 258 of the Electoral Act.

Dismissing the application, Justice Pindiga held that the tribunal has not violated any provision of the law since the relocation to Abuja was based on security reasons. The Judge disagreed with the claim of the governor on proximity and accessibility as the two major factors that ought to have determined the venue of the sitting adding that proximity and accessibility cannot be determined in the absence of security of the tribunal members and litigants

Justice Pindiga held that the issue security outweighs the two factors, adding that the President of the Appeal Court acted within the ambit of the law which, according to him, emphasises conducive atmosphere for the tribunal to hold its proceedings.

The proceedings of the tribunal have been bogged down by interlocutory applications mainly by the defendants including Wike and the PDP.

Apart from the application by the respondents challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal to sit in Abuja, they had filed another one in which they contended that the tribunal lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the petition because it was allegedly incompetent.

The respondents had also filed another application asking the tribunal to set aside its order granted the petitioners to inspect the electoral materials used by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the conduct of the April 11 poll.

The tribunal had dismissed the application asking for the setting aside of the order but INEC is yet to comply with it.

The development led to the petitioners filing an application asking the tribunal to compel INEC to move the electoral materials to Abuja.

The tribunal fixed July 29 for ruling on the applications by INEC and Wike contending that the petition filed by Dr. Dakuku Peterside and APC was incompetent.

Peterside, who joined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as co-defendant, alleged that the election was marred with irregularities, fraud, violence and malpractices; thus asking the tribunal for the cancellation of the poll for a fresh one to be conducted by INEC.