From Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State has countered the protest by the All Progressives Congress in the state over the decision of the President of the Court of Appeal Honourable Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen to relocate the Ebonyi State Election Petitions Tribunal to Abuja.
PDP said contrary to the claims of the APC, the relocation was for the overall interest of Justice, peace, and safety of all concerned.
The PDP described it as unfortunate that a well-thought-out administrative Judicial decision by His Lordship, Honourable Justice Monica Dongban Mensen, had become the subject of crass blackmail, primitive influence peddling, name calling and threats by the APC.
These were contained in a statement signed and issued by the Acting Chairman of the PDP in Ebonyi State, Ifeanyi Nworie, to Journalists in Abakaliki, on Tuesday.
Recall that on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, the Secretary of Ebonyi State election petitions tribunal, Mr Nyior Henry Sekulla, announced the directive of the Appeal Court President for the relocation of the Tribunal to Abuja, a development that has generated mixed reactions from political actors in the state.
The ruling APC in the state had in a petition to its National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, signed by its Chairman, Chief Stanley Okoro-Emegha and the Secretary, Mr Charles Ofoke, faulted the relocation of the tribunal, described it as the gimmicks of the main opposition, the People’s Democratic Party, to subvert justice.
But the state PDP acting chairman, Mr Nworie, alleged that evidence abounds that the Ebonyi State government had been notorious for its hostility to the judiciary, arguing that for the safety of the Court, its staff, litigants and their witnesses, the relocation of the Tribunal was a well-thought-out decision.
According to the PDP boss, it’s imperative to state that this is not the first time that the sitting of an Election Tribunal has been ordered to be held in a place outside the state where the elections took place.
“In the present dispensation, the President of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria has also ordered the relocation of the Election Tribunal in Rivers State and one other to Abuja. Suffice it to say that Rivers State and the other states are PDP states. Therefore, the order directing the relocation of the Election Tribunal in Ebonyi State to Abuja cannot be an effort by the Peoples Democratic
Party to subvert justice,” he added.
Mr Nworie further argued that for neutrality, the need for parties to have free and unhindered access to the Court as well as the need for Justice to be dispensed without fear or harm to the judges among other reasons, the relocation of the tribunal was a welcomed development.