The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, has declined a request by counsel to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) seeking the relocation of the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal from Ado-Ekiti to another venue over alleged security concerns.
The development stalled the expected commencement of proceedings on Wednesday, as SDP counsel, Ebenezer Akinbuli, was absent from the tribunal.
Akinbuli had, in a letter to the tribunal, sought another adjournment pending the determination of the request to relocate the sitting.
However, Chairman of the three-member tribunal, Justice Abubakar Kutigi, informed the parties that the President of the Court of Appeal had declined to order the transfer of the tribunal sitting, stressing that the panel was properly constituted to continue hearing the petitions in the state.
Counsel to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kabir Akingbolu, and counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Bunmi Ipinlaiye, said they were not aware of the purported decision of the Court of Appeal, which was said to have been served through the tribunal’s secretary.
To avoid uncertainty over the development, Justice Kutigi adjourned proceedings until Thursday, September 24, for continuation of the hearing.
Speaking with journalists after the proceedings, Akingbolu said the request for relocation was made by the SDP in respect of its petition and did not concern the Action Alliance (AA) petition.
He said the latest adjournment was also at the instance of the petitioners, who, according to him, had written letters seeking the postponement of proceedings in both petitions.
Akingbolu further described the petition challenging the victory of Governor Biodun Oyebanji in the June 20 governorship election as unusual, citing the wide margin of victory recorded by the governor across the state.
He said Oyebanji won all 16 local government areas and most of the 177 wards, while questioning the basis of the petitions filed against the election.
He also alleged that repeated requests for adjournment and other applications were delaying the hearing of the substantive issues before the tribunal, urging the petitioners to allow the proceedings to take their course.
According to him, ‘There is confusion, so we need to clarify it. The SDP filed a petition and the AA filed a petition. On the last adjourned day, September 16, a petition was written by counsel to the party, SDP, saying that there was no security and that the venue of the tribunal should be moved to Abuja or elsewhere.
‘As it is today, they are secure. They are the ones that sought the adjournment. The court has now adjourned the matter to tomorrow for continuation at the instance of the petitioners because they wrote the petition and a letter of adjournment to that effect on both election petitions.’