Tribunal rejects PDP's plea to dismiss Akpanudoedehe's petition

THE new governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, has rejected the prayers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to dismiss the petition brought by James Akpanudoedehe, against Governor Godswill Akpabio.It also asserted jurisdiction on the petition by Akpanudoedehe, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate in the April 2011 election.In his ruling yesterday, the tribunal's chairman, Justice Ayuba Kwajafasha, said it would be a mockery of the Supreme Court's judgment if the case was struck out as demanded by the PDP.Kwajafasha, therefore, said the pre-hearing of the case would begin tomorrow and asked all the parties to file in materials, which are relevant to the case before the said date.The tribunal deferred ruling on the case till yesterday after taking the submission of the PDP and the ACN.The PDP lead counsel, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN), had prayed the tribunal to dismiss the petitioner's application on the ground that the 180 days' limit allowed by the constitution for filing of petitions had lapsed.In his application on January 6, 2012, Ojo cited Section 285 (6) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to support his argument. He claimed that the tribunal lacked the 'requisite authority, nay judicial power to extend the time beyond the 180 days', as prescribed by the Constitution.But Kola Awodein (SAN) of the ACN urged the tribunal to ignore Ojo's arguments because to 'accept them would amount to disobeying the decision of the Supreme Court on the matter'.He said the Supreme Court was conscious of Section 285 (6) of the Constitution before giving its judgment that the petitioner's case should be heard on its merit anew by the lower court.Awodein urged the tribunal to consider the section of the Constitution holistically rather than relying only on Section 285 (6) to deny the petitioner's justice and fair hearing in the case.Reacting to the ruling, the lawyer who represented the PDP at the session, Duro Adeleye (SAN), said the party was not afraid of the petition, adding however, that it was wrong to waste time with the case because there was no jurisdiction on the matter.'We have no fear about the petition. We only felt that we should not waste our time with the petition when there is no jurisdiction because the Constitution is very clear about the time given from the filing of the petition to when to decide the petition', he said.
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