Tribunal: Court fixes July 6 to hear Jonathan’s objections to CPC’s petition

Posted by admin CPC (Congress 4 Progressive Change), Party Politics Monday, June 27th, 2011

The Court of Appeal sitting as Presidential Election Tribunal, on Monday, in Abuja fixed Wednesday, July 6 to hear the objections filed by President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the legitimacy of the petition filed by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to nullify the April 16 presidential election.

The tribunal also dismissed an application by the Hope Democratic Party (HDP) to re-list its petition, declaring that since the party voluntarily withdrew the petition, the court no longer had the power to re-list.

In dismissing the application by HDP to re-list its petition, the president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, leading four other justices of the court, said that the petitioner did not give credible evidence to persuade the court to set aside its order striking out the petition.

He added that the court had become functius officio and, therefore, was without jurisdiction to re-list the case.

The court had, on May 27, 2011 struck out the party’s petition following an application by the party’s counsel, Mr E.G. Ogar, to withdraw the petition.

Ogar had told the court that because the party had congratulated Jonathan as the winner of the election, it was no longer interested in pursuing the petition.

However, a few days after the petition was struck out, the party made a U-turn and filed an application seeking an order of the court re-listing the petition, claiming that it was blackmailed into withdrawing it.

The respondents to the petition, President Goodluck Jonathan, his deputy, Namadi Sambo and the Independent National Election Commission (INEC), opposed the application to re-list the petition.

Objecting the CPC’s petition, Jonathan and PDP said that the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear it.

The objection was filed by counsel for the president namely Chief Wole Olanipekun; O.C.J. Okocha; Dr Alex Izinyon; Damien Dodo; Fabian Ajogwu; Ighodalo Imadegbelo; Chief Assam Assam; O.A. Omonuwa; Jude Nnodum and Paul Erokoro.

-Tribunewp_posts