By Vincent Ujumadu

Awka—Anambra State national and state assembly election petitions tribunal began its sitting in Awka, Wednesday, with a warning by the chairman, Justice Joseph Ananabo, not to tolerate undue distraction from interested parties.

According to him, any attempt to sway the panel into perverting the course of justice will be resisted.

Justice Ananabo said it was the equality of evidence before the tribunal and the constitution of Nigeria that would determine the judgments.

He observed that election matters were very serious matters that should not be treated with levity.

He said: “It is the quality of the evidence before the court and what the constitution says that would determine who is the winner or the loser in the election.

“We shall, therefore, discharge our duties in line with the constitution and the law because the tribunal was set up to ensure that those who actually won the election were those that the people elected to represent them.”

Speaking on behalf of Anambra forum of chairmen of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, the Awka branch chairman, Mr. Uba Anene, promised the co-operation of the Bar with the tribunal to ensure that matters were discharged effectively, so everybody would have cause to rejoice at the end of the exercise.

Also, speaking, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Mr. Nnoruka Udechukwu, reminded the panel that there were grey areas that might confront the tribunal in the course of its work and hoped that members would live up to expectation in the discharge of their duties.