The hearing of the petition filled by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Dr. Alex Otti, contesting the election of the Abia State governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has been fixed by the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia for July 10 and 13 respectively.
Otti is asking the Tribunal to annul the election of Ikpeazu and to declare him the winner of the gubernatorial election that was conducted in the State.
Adjourning the sitting on Thursday, the Tribunal Chairman, Hon. Justice Usman Bwala, stressed that before the new date for the sitting, all the processes would have been served and replies also filed by all the parties involved.
Bwala warned that the parties involved have up to the end of Thursday next week to file their motions, adding that the Tribunal will not accept any other motion after the next sitting.
Chief Awa Kalu, the counsel to Otti, during the sitting, withdrew an earlier petition seeking the tribunal to allow his client inspect all the election materials.
Kalu expressed displeasure over the way the Independent National Electoral Commission is handling the matter as they are making the inspection of the materials difficult for Otti.
While addressing newsmen, Kalu disclosed that he has filed a fresh motion replacing the one he withdrew.
According to Kalu, the fresh motion was seeking the assistance of the tribunal in accelerating the bureaucratic bottleneck been experienced by forensic experts brought in by Otti in the hands of INEC officials.
Comments