Thirty-one petitions have been filed before the Bayelsa State Election Petitions Tribunal which began sitting in Yenagoa, the state capital yesterday.
The secretary of the tribunal, Abba Umaru Dahiru, in a chat with newsmen after the sitting, said of the 31 petitions it received, 22 were for the state House of Assembly elections and nine for the National Assembly elections, adding that one of the petitions have been withdrawn.
Meanwhile, the tribunal has warned litigants and counsel to desist from seeking unnecessary adjournments and filing of frivolous applications and preliminary objections which are time wasting and aimed at perverting the course of justice.
The chairperson of the tribunal, Justice O. M. Fagbemi, who gave the admonition in her inaugural address said since the tribunal is time bound, it’s need the support and cooperation of all parties to administer justice.
She said, “We solicit your support and cooperation in administering justice to all manner of people via petition filed before the tribunal. As it is described, elections petitions before the tribunal are time bound and by their nature peculiar from other proceedings.
“We undertake to abide by our oath of office, and mandate in dispensing justice with the help of God almighty.
“We seized this opportunity to admonish counsels and litigants to desist from seeking unnecessary incessant adjournments and filing of frivolous applications and preliminary objections which is time wasting, purely an academic exercise, an exercise in futility aimed at perverting the course of justice.”
