Election Tribunal Throws Out Wike's Request To Stop Case

Election Tribunal Throws Out Wike's Request To Stop Case

The bid of Governor Nyesom Wike to stop the petition before the Rivers state governorship election petitions tribunal sitting in Abuja, seeking to sack him from office suffered setback.

Wike had sought tp get the tribunal to dismiss the case filed by the All Progressives Congress and its governorship candidates, Dr. Dakuku Peterside.

Justice Muazu Pindiga-led tribunal held that the Peterside and his party properly convoked a pre-hearing session on their case against Wike, Vanguard reports.

The tribunal added that it was not fully convinced by the arguments advanced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Wike that the petitioners fail to pay the mandatory N100 to enable the pre-hearing session thus calling for the dismissal of the petition.

The counsel to INEC, K.O.C Njemanze (SAN), has requested for the dismissal of the petition on the grounds of non compliance with the provision of paragraph 18(1) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act.

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INEC insisted that there was no evidence that the petitioners paid the necessary fees before they applied to the secretary of the tribunal to issue them Form TF007, which will okay pre-hearing on the petition.

The same argument of the electoral body was maintained by wike’s lawyer, Emmanuel Ukala (SAN). He said that in the case of Ihedioha vs Okorocha where the petitioners failed to properly apply for the pre-hearing session rendered the case before the tribunal liable to be dismissed.

The Peoples Democratic Party which is the third respondent agreed with arguments of Wike’s counsel and INCE’s and based on the strength of these arguments sought for the dismissal of the petition.

However, in its ruling, the tribunal upheld the argument of counsel to the petitioners, Chief Akinlolu Olujunmi, SAN, ‎who had urged the panel not to allow the respondents to rely on technicalities to defeat the essence of justice in the electoral dispute.

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Besidees, the panel stressed that the letter the petitioners served on the secretary to the tribunal on June 23, which requested for the issuance of Form TF007, did not qualify as a filed document as envisaged by paragraph 37 of the Electoral Act.

“It is clear that there is no imposition of any fee for the kick-starting ‎of a pre-hearing session and the application for issuance of pre-hearing form does not involve any filing fee. “Form TF007 and TF008 are not documents filed as envisaged by paragraph 37 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act.

“If a pre-hearing session has began as in the instant case, the way it was kick-started‎ is no longer of any moment whatsoever. We hold that there was no defect in the pre-hearing kick-started by the petitioners. The applications by the Respondents are hereby discountenanced and dismissed”, the tribunal ruled.

Meanwhile, the immediate past governor of the state, Rotimi Amaechi has alleged that the plan to probe his administration by Governor Wike is targeted to blackmail him.