Abia Election Tribunal receives 30 petitions

The Abia Tribunal sitting in Umuahia has received 30 petitions arising from the recently-concluded elections in Abia, the tribunal Chairman ,Justice Mohammed Wakili, has said.

In his inaugural speech on Wednesday in Umuahia,Wakili promised that the tribunal would dispense justice without fear or favour.

“Counsels appearing before this tribunal should avoid uncomplimentary comments and frivolous petitions against the tribunal as it will not be taken kindly.

“And I urge counsels to put more effort to see that cases are not delayed due to unnecessary applications for adjournment”.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tribunal handled seven motions on the first day of its sitting.

Six of the motions were applications for an order of substituted service to respondents, while the remaining motion was an ex parte motion.
The ex parte motion was filed by Orji Kalu of Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) against Mao Ohuabunwa of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)and eight others for Abia North Senatorial zone.

Kalu, through his counsel, Perfect Okorie, urged the tribunal to make an order for ballot papers and result sheets of the Abia North Senatorial election to be made available for inspection.

The chairman ruled on the ex parte motion, directing INEC to release the said documents for inspection while the other motions were granted and adjourned till May 14 for mention.

In an interview with NAN, Okorie said that so far, the tribunal had shown that it would be fair and that all parties would be given equal opportunity to ventilate their grievance.

“Also, with the way the tribunal is going, I believe it will do justice to the cases before the end of 180 days as stipulated by the Electoral Act,” Okorie said