The Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Awka has dismissed a motion filed by Senator Chris Ngige which sought additional exhibits and witnesses to prove his petition against Governor-elect, Chief Willie Obiano.

The tribunal in its ruling delivered yesterday in the Anambra State capital by a member of the panel, Justice Akintola Akiniyi, held that the documents sought to be added were sourced outside the designated INEC office.

Counsel to INEC, Obiano and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) and Mr. Patrick Iweto (SAN), respectively had opposed the motion.

“All the computer generated documents from the law office of the applicant sought to be added by counsel to Ngige, Chief Olarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), were produced outside the order of the tribunal.

“This however, has affected the credibility of the documents and cannot be accepted. Accordingly, the application to file, serve and rely on the additional witness statements cannot be granted and hereby dismissed,” the tribunal held.

The tribunal further held that the dismissal would not affect the validity of other evidence to be relied upon by the petitioner.

The tribunal fixed next Monday, February 23, to rule on the application by Senator Ngige, the All Progressives Congress (APC), candidate in last November’s election, opposing the application of INEC, APGA and Obiano’s lawyers to strike out certain paragraphs in his petition.

INEC lawyer, Mr. Ahmed Raji, SAN, had listed a number of paragraphs from the main petition to be struck out on the basis that they were pre–election matters, incompetent and nebulous.

According to Raji, there were certain issues in the petition which the tribunal is not supposed to handle, adding that allowing them would only mean a waste of time of the members of the tribunal.

The tribunal meanwhile fixed next week Tuesday, February 24, for ruling on an application by APGA governorship aspirant, Dr. Chike Obidigbo, to be joined in the ongoing litigation at the tribunal.

His counsel, Mr. Oba Maduabuchi, had during yesterday’s sitting urged the three-member tribunal to allow his client to be joined in the petition, arguing that shutting him out at the pre –hearing stage would be tantamount to the panel’s stance to uphold justice and fair hearing to all parties involved.

According to Mmaduabuchi, “If Obidigbo is not joined in the petition, whatever decision reached at the tribunal will be binding on him and that is why it is necessary that he is made to be part of it.

“If his motion is joined in the petition, the respondents in this petition will not lose anything but he will lose everything if he is not joined.”

He argued that following the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, the National Chairman of APGA is Chief Maxi Okwu, adding that all actions taken by Okwu on behalf of the party, which included the nomination of Obidigbo as the candidate of APGA in the election, remained authentic.

Responding, Obiano’s counsel, Dr. Ikpeazu (SAN), argued that the Court of Appeal which set aside the judgment of the Enugu High Court, which was the basis on which Okwu emerged the National Chairman of the party, made the Awka National Convention of the party a non-issue.

According to him, the Federal High Court, Abuja, judgment which declared Okwu the National Chairman of APGA last month did not take retrospective effect, adding that the judgment did not affect all actions taken by Sir Victor Umeh in his capacity as APGA National Chairman before the date of the judgment.

Citing several legal authorities to buttress his argument, Ikpeazu (SAN) said: “Obidigbo has therefore no locus to file the petition at the tribunal.”

•Additional reporting from NAN. Photo shows Governor-elect Obiano and Senator Ngige.

Update news