Forty eight hours to the expiration of the twenty one days stipulated by the Electoral Act for the filing of petitions against the outcome of the Anambra state gubernatorial elections, eleven political parties and their candidates beat the deadline by filing their petitions to the Election Petition Tribunal.
The political parties between Monday and Tuesday made last minute filling of their petitions as against expectations in some quarters that it would be a walk over for the Governor Elect and candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA , Prof Charles Soludo.
Among the parties that approached the tribunal include Sen. Andy Uba of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who is calling for a declaration that he won majority of the valid votes cast in the said election .
The Action Democratic Party (ADP) and it’s candidate Prince Adam Ume-Ezeoke in their petition prayed the the tribunal for the nullification of the election on the grounds that the Bi- Modal Accreditation Verification System BVAS is not in the Electoral Act and the malfunctioning ultimately disenfranchised over ninety percent of the registered voters.
Also the candidate of the Accord Party Dr Godwin Maduka and his party called for the nullification of the election on the ground of irregularities.
Other parties include the United Patriots which petitioned the tribunal on the grounds of wrongful exclusion of the party name from the ballot calling for the nullification of the election as well as the the Green Party and the Action People’s Party APP among others.
But the duo of the People’s Democratic Party PDP and it’s candidate Mr Valentine Ozigbo and candidate of the Young Progressive Party YPP Sen Ifeanyi Uba did not petition the tribunal.
Similarly the three Tribunal Judges are being expected to arrive Anambra state following the filling of the petitions and according to the Secretary of the tribunal Barr Surajo Gusau the judges are being expected in Awka very soon adding that the fears that the judges would be sitting in Abuja is not correct.
Already petitioners at the tribunal have appealed to the President of the Appeal to allow the tribunal sit in Awka noting that the cost and unconvinences of relocating to Abuja with the attendant challenges is not to the interest of the petitioners.
Special Adviser to Gov Wille Obiano on Political Matters Bar Ifeatu Obiokoye told reporters that “we shall take it as it comes and we are not loosing sleep over those petitions and do not loose sight of the game plan of a particular party and petitioner by sponsoring some lesser political parties to go to tribunal and later withdraw from the suits and collapse into their benefactors at the end of the day.
Our party the All Progressives Grand Alliance won the election and we are prepared to defend our mandate at the tribunal; he said
