By ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH
LAGOS- Less than 50 days to its winding up, the election petitions tribunal in Lagos State has been accused of dismissing petitions before it on  technical grounds rather than addressing substantive matters raised in them.

Democratic and Good Governance Initiatives, DGGI, which made the allegation, in Lagos, yesterday, urged the tribunal to stick to its primary duty of correcting the perceived wrong arising from the last general election by speedy hearings of the substantive matters pending before it.

A former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Bernard Mikko and  chairman of the group, said to avoid the repeat of the 2007 Sokoto governorship election petition tribunal and the controversies that followed, the tribunal should follow  Section 53(1) of the Electoral Act, which stated that “non- compliance with any of the provisions of the schedule, or with a rule of practice for the time being operative, except otherwise stated or implied shall not render any proceeding void.”

Recalling what happened before the court recently, the group said the tribunal had dismissed petitions filed against Senator Remi Tinubu of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, by Dapo Durosinmi-Etti of Labour Party, LP,  and Tolagbe Animashaun of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as well as one filed by PDP against ACN in respect of Mushin II seat of the House of Representatives on technical grounds contrary to provisions of the Electoral Act.

Mikko, representing Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency of Rivers State,  stressed that Section 53 (4) of the Electoral Act,  provides that “an election petition shall not be defeated by an objection as to form, if it is possible, at the time the objection is raised, to remedy the defects, either by way of amendment or as may be directed by the tribunal or court.”

The group also condemned the tribunal for adjudicating on cases in chambers and not in the open court, as well as adjourning rulings indefinitely, adding that of the 180 days stipulated by the law for cases to be concluded, the Lagos tribunal had less than 40 days.

It, therefore, urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria,National Judicial Council, and Nigerian Bar Association,to call members of the tribunal to order and stop them from acting outside the provisions of the Electoral Act on issues involving competence of the cases before them.