The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi would on June 24 commence full trial of the case between the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the just concluded 2019 elections, Barr. Emmanuel Jime and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Governor Samuel Ortom.
Jime had on April 12, 2019 filed a petition before the tribunal to challenge the return of the respondent, Ortom as winner of the 2019 governorship election in the state as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The chairman of the tribunal, Justice Adebola Olusiyi, at the weekend, said the course was now clear and the stage set for full trial, having come to the end of pre-hearing of the matter.
Justice Olusiyi stressed that there would be strict compliance to the number of days parties are entitled to as he noted that there was only one pending motion on notice which will be taken outside the pre-hearing.
Ortom’s lead counsel, Sebastian Hon (SAN), however assured the panel of their cooperation towards ensuring that trial will be conducted in line with the law. He thanked the judges for the conduct of proceedings so far.
Daily Trust reports that Justice Olusiyi, had earlier, while ruling on application by INEC for an order striking out certain paragraphs of Jime’s reply, held that the panel cannot depart from its initial position, to defer ruling until the substantive petition is heard.
Olusiyi further held that there were no compulsions on the tribunal to deliver ruling on applications before hearing the substantive petition as he therefore reserved ruling on the matter and adjourned till June 24 for commencement of full hearing.
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