Rivers election tribunal relocation to Abuja inevitable – Abe

Forum 1 year ago

Rivers election tribunal relocation to Abuja inevitable – Abe

GOVERNORSHIP candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Rivers State, Sen Magnus Abe, has said the relocation of the state’s Election Petition Tribunal to Abuja was inevitable because it would have been risky for opposition political parties to appear before the tribunal sitting in the state capital.

Abe in media reflections yesterday in Port Harcourt said, “Anybody who has been watching developments in Rivers will see there was really no way the tribunal could sit in Port Harcourt.

“Even the opportunity for opposition parties to access INEC Office in Port Harcourt and be able to get materials or information from INEC to enable them present their petitions before the tribunal was violently resisted.

“People were beaten up; nobody could go near the INEC Office. The place was kept under siege and the police allowed this to go for days. Nothing was done to bring it under control.

“So, clearly, on the option of the tribunal actually sitting in Port Harcourt to do any meaningful work, anybody who has been watching events in the State knows that it was not even an option.

“There is no way anybody could have been able to go before the tribunal in Port Harcourt and be able to make a case. Even the tribunal is also made up of human beings who also fear for their lives.

“The volatile political atmosphere in the State affected everybody and affected everything. I think that at the end of the day, the tribunal had no option than relocate to Abuja where we believe everybody will get a better opportunity to be able to present their cases.”