Group Seeks Relocation Of Rivers Election Tribunal To Port Harcourt

 

                As reactions continue to trail the planned sitting of the Rivers Governorship Tribunal in Abuja, a non-governmental organisation, Society for Good Governance,  has faulted the decision of the President of the Court of Appeal,  Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, to allow the tribunal to sit in Abuja instead of Port Harcourt. ?
Addressing journalists in Abuja at the weekend, the group’s coordinator, Tamuno Greg, said there was no basis for compelling the tribunal to sit in Abuja.

According to him, Port Harcourt is peaceful, adding that there is no threat whatsoever to the lives of the tribunal members.
He said: “If the city is not peaceful as they would want us to believe, why has the President of the Court of Appeal not relocated the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt to Abuja?
“Our argument is that if the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court can continue to sit in Port Harcourt, what is the justification for bringing the tribunal to Abuja?
“Look, all the witnesses are in Rivers State. The plaintiffs’ witnesses as well as the defendants’ witnesses are in Rivers. The Independent National Electoral Commission staff who conducted the elections are in Rivers. So why putting everybody under inconveniences.
He added, “We, therefore, call on the President of the Court of Appeal to rescind her decision by relocating the tribunal to Port Harcourt.”
Greg said that law, equity, justice and fair play demanded that the tribunal sat in ?Port Harcourt.
He said it would be in the interest of all the parties to ?have the tribunal relocated to Port Harcourt.
?He also called on the people of Rivers State to put the rancour associated with the elections behind them and work together in the interest of the state.