Prayers by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesome Wike to have the State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting relocate to Rivers State were rejected yesterday The Tribunal is sitting in Abuja.
In a ruling on Monday, the three-man panel led by Justice Muazu Pindiga, dismissed the application on the ground that the tribunal had power to sit in Abuja, following security challenges in the state.
The NAN reports that the tribunal also held that the composition of the tribunal was not in any way defective and that the President of the Court of Appeal had the power to fix the venue of the tribunal.
Pindiga added that the issue of accessibility and proximity of the venue for the tribunal cannot be decided without considering the security situation, earlier argued by the governor’s counsel, Mr Emmanuel Ukala, SAN.
It will be recalled that the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Dr Dakuku Peterside had in April dragged Wike to court over his victory as the governor of Rivers.
Joined in the suit filed by the APC are the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
