Candidate Passes Vote Of No Confidence On Tribunal

An Action Congress of Nigeria’s (ACN), candidate has passed a vote of no confidence on Justices Garba Nabarum-led election petition tribunal in Cross Rivers.

In a statement by Mr Hilliard Etta, the ACN candidate for House of Assembly seat for Calabar Municipality state constituency in Calabar, said: “The desperate move by the tribunal to truncate the life span of elections petitions of the ACN candidates using certain noxious legal technicalities is befuddling, humorous and unfortunate. ’’

He said the tribunal was “just another hatchet man of the PDP and have been blinded to the truth by virtue of its oil-soaked gown’’.

Etta said that the tribunal threw out some petitions even when objections to their credibility or competence were never raised by the respondents.

“If the allegations made in the petitions of the ACN candidates concerning the irregularities in the conduct and outcome of the last April polls are doubtful in materials and content, then the tribunal should have allowed credible arguments to be marshalled out by the parties involved either in support of the claims or a counter.

“To throw out an election matter as the tribunal has decided to do in recent times is tantamount to a miscarriage of justice.

The tribunal had issued subpoena to some persons, including the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Mr. Mike Igini, to appear before it and testify on the conduct and outcome of the April polls, but was not executed.

The tribunal, it added, “had also faulted itself on whether it has jurisdiction or not to handle the issue of qualification by purported winners of the April polls to contest the said polls by virtue of having not emerged from validly conducted primaries by their party”.

“ACN candidates as well as the party shall pursue the course of justice. Cross River state is a peace loving state and if we are pushed to the wall, we shall have no other choice than to resist.