EDO TRIBUNAL RELOCATES TO ABUJA. (PHOTO).

 Edo tribunal relocates to Abuja

The Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led, three-member Edo governorship election petitions tribunal, which sat on Friday at Edo High Court Complex on Sapele Road, Benin, has relocated to Abuja, for undisclosed reasons.

The late night’s notice of relocation was signed by the Secretary to the tribunal, Mu’azu Ibrahim Bagudu.

The tribunal’s secretary said: “I am directed to notify all parties that the governorship election petitions tribunal, sitting in Benin City, Edo State, has been relocated to Abuja at the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Airport Road, Abuja, effective from Monday, January 27, 2025. For further inquiry, contact the secretary on 08037200013. Thank you.”

Justice Kpochi, at Friday’s s sitting, adjourned till January 28, 2025 for further hearing in the petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its standard bearer in Edo, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, who was inaugurated Governor on November 12, 2024.

Seven of 18 political parties that participated in the election, which filed petitions at the tribunal, were the PDP, Social Democratic Party (SDP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Action Democratic Party (ADP), Accord (A), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and Action Alliance (AA), which wanted their candidates to be declared winner of the keenly-contested poll, instead of Okpebholo.

At the sitting of the tribunal, there was adjournment of the cross-examination of PDP’s star witness, Mr. Oseyili Anenih, a son of the party’s former Chairman of its Board of Trustees (BOT), the late Chief Tony Anenih, till January 28, 2025, at the instance of the respondents’ counsel.

Moving an oral application during the tribunal’s proceedings, the lead counsel to the first respondent, Kanu Agabi, SAN, prayed the tribunal for adjournment to enable the respondents to have enough time to cross-examine the petitioners’ star witness.

He was supported by the second and third respondents’ lead counsel, Dr. Onyeachi Ikpeazu, SAN, and Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, who argued that the petitioners’ counsel spent over three hours in leading the witness in evidence.

The lead counsel to the petitioners, Adetunji Oyeyipo, SAN, while opposing the respondents’ applications, prayed the tribunal to refuse the application on the ground that the documents referred to by the witness were not strange to the respondents.

The tribunal, however, refused the submission of Oyeyipo, and grated the request of counsel to the respondents, thereby adjourning till January 28.