• Nwoye’s,PDP’s too
From Ada Bosa
The Anambra State Gubernatorial Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Awka, today suck out an application brought by Dr Chike Obidigbo seeking to be joined in all four pending petitions before the Tribunal as party.
Ruling today, the Tribunal which was made up of two judges today out of the three-, man panel, ruled that admitting Dr Obidigbo at this stage in the matter would mean inviting amendments to all the petitions and therefore starting afresh to do all that the Tribunal has been doing since it started sitting, which will be detriments to the justice of the substantive matters I which Obidigbo is not yet joined.
The Tribunal also held that Dr Obidigbo’s name does not fall under any category of names of persons recognised as statutory respondents to an election petition.
The chairman of the panel Hon Justice Ishaq Bello and one member, Hon Justice Akintola Akinteye held that Dr Obidigbo will not suffer any injustice if he is not joined as a party in the three matters, whose petitioners, All Progressive Congress (APC) and Senator Chris Ngige; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); and Tony Nwoye, variously opposed the application vehemently.
Beside the lordships concluded that the substantive petition ,which survived an attempt made by Patrick Ikwueto ,SAN lawyer for the Umeh faction of APGA to strike the matter out through second application, will provides an opportunity for Dr Obidgbo to establish his interests in the substantive matter.
Obidigbo’s legal team however interpreted the ruling as ‘a positive development and a victory of their client Dr. Obidigbo, who did not sleep over his right as the rightful candidate of All Progressive rand alliance in the November 16, 2013 Gubernatorial elections’.
All the petitioners also hail eth ruling in unison.
The Tribunal will on Friday, February 28, 2014 determine whether some paragraphs of the petitions by APC/Ngige will be struck out or reserved following an application brought by INEC to that effect and supported by APGA, and Chief Willie Obiano.
The arguments which were concluded yesterday centred on the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to entertain matters on qualification for election, issues around the voter register before the polling day and what the applicant described as being ‘vague and nebulous’
