…as parties seeking to join dismissed

The All Progressives Congress, APC, and its candidate, Nsima Ekere, in the recently concluded elections in Akwa-Ibom state have had a rough day at the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Uyo today as their efforts to replace certain paragraphs in their petition failed.

Pre-hearing was closed without the tribunal hearing and adopting their petition.

Meanwhile, the tribunal had clearly warned that there would be no further extension of time and every motion not heard by June 21, 2019 would be entertained concurrently with the trial.

In an unsuccessful attempt to meet the deadline, counsel for the petitioners, Prof. Chukwu, who stood in for his colleague, Okutekpa, pleaded with the tribunal ‘for the sake of time’ to admit the two motions seeking to amend their petition. Curiously, they filed the motion on June 17, 2019, just three days before.

This plea was vehemently opposed by counsel to first respondent, Asam Asam SAN. According to him, the appeal was unacceptable.

“The motion is not ripe for hearing as we have just been served. The motion may look simple but therein lies the crux of this matter thus we need time to peruse it page by page. It can be taken later as we have not exhausted allotted time by the rule.”

Lead counsel to second respondent, Uko Udom, also opposed the motion, stating that they have just recently been served. His position was shared by lead counsel to 3rd respondent, Offiong Offiong, citing the same reason.

Accordingly, the tribunal president asked counsels of both parties to agree on a date for consideration of the motion but Asam Asam, SAN suggested that counsel to the petitioners give a date which will suit both sides so there’ll be no further extension.

When they could not agree on a date, the tribunal reminded them that pre-hearing will not be extended, consequently, the motions should be heard on Monday June 24, 2019.

This did not go down well with counsels due to engagements in other cases. They pleaded with the  court to reconsider the date so that both parties can prepare aptly.

Eventually, the tribunal ruled that July 4, 2019 would be the date to take both motions  of petitioners and adjourned till then.

In a related development, a mild drama ensued in court when some candidates in the 2019 Governorship election sought to join as co-respondents.

While Asam Asam SAN told the court that he lacks opinion on the request, Uko Udom Esq, counsel to 2nd respondent told the court that the request sought to trivialize serious legal proceedings of the tribunal and asked the court to dismiss it with a strong statement discouraging any further action by parties concerned.

On his part, counsel to petitioners, Prof. Ojukwu, while opposing the request, told the court that since the  counsel representing the parties was one of his students, he would refrain from inputting charges against him for the disruption.

Seemingly unfazed by these rebukes, counsel to the parties seeking to joining the matter, maintained that his clients were not just voters but candidates in the election as such the court should discountenance oppositions and grant his request.

The tribunal then drew his attention to the fact that he failed to include the 3rd respondent (INEC) on the cover of his motion and he did not state clearly on the cover of his motion whether he sought to join as petitioner or co-respondent. Based on these omissions, the tribunal dismissed his application.