There seems to be respite for the members of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in Rivers State as the issue of jurisdiction which bothers on whether the tribunals should sit in Abuja has been settled in the case of Akwa Ibom Tribunal which is also sitting in Abuja.
The Justice Sadiq Umar led tribunal hearing the petition filed by Umana Okon Umana of the APC challenging the victory of Emmanuel Udom of the PDP has struck out the motion filed by the PDP and it’s candidate challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter.
According to the motion of the PDP, the tribunal lacks locus as it is sitting in Abuja instead of Akwa Ibom as contained in Section 285 (2) of the 1999 constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria.
But the Chairman of the panel struck out the motion today on grounds that it was ill-conceived.
The PDP had also filed a similar motion in the case of Rivers and the tribunal has fixed the 27th of July for ruling on the matter. With the reasons adduced by Justice Sadiq Umar in the case of Akwa Ibom Tribunal, then it may have been a mere academic exercise for the PDP.
Wrriten By Chief Oby Ndukwe
