Relocation Of Ebonyi Tribunal Will Save Lives, Guarantee Justice – Okorie

The Ebonyi South Senatorial candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Hon. Linus Okorie, yesterday commended the president of the Court of Appeal, Monica Mensem, for relocating the Ebonyi State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abakaliki to the Federal Capital Territory,  saying the decision would  save lives and guarantee justice for all parties.

Briefing journalists in Abakaliki, Hon Okorie noted that Ebonyi State was not safe for candidates of the opposition parties to freely prosecute their petitions.

“I wish to commend the president of the Court of Appeal for perceptively acting in the best interest of justice and Ebonyians too by moving the sitting of the Election Petitions Tribunal to Abuja. At least, this singular act will save lives in Ebonyi State and guarantee justice for all parties.

“It is evident that security reports on the officially induced insecurity and constricted democratic space which Ebonyi has long become abound in quarters that matter.

“For many petitioners and even their supporters, the fear had always been that without moving the tribunal sittings out of Abakaliki, the APC in the state would make it impossible for the opposition who are mostly the petitioners to freely prove their cases.

“Reports already had it that the State APC chapter have allegedly concluded arrangements to frustrate the cases of their opponents by adopting the recent Rivers State model of blocking access to the tribunal venues for all non-APC litigants in the State.

The safety of the Honourable Tribunal Judges cannot also be guaranteed nor their zeal to dispense justice be assured under such a pervading threat of intimidation and insecurity,” Okorie said.

He alleged that the ruling APC in the state had been making some sinister moves, including seeking the intervention of the national chairman of APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, against the relocation to Abuja for the purpose of unleashing mayhem and circumventing justice in the state.

Okorie who is challenging the declaration of David Umahi as Senator-elect also alleged that the state government and ruling APC in the state were hell-bent on resorting to all manner of hooliganism and brigandage to subvert justice.