Tribunal to Okowa, PDP, INEC: Your motions are unmeritorious, Dismissed

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Asaba, Delta state capital  on Saturday threw out the three motions brought by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for being unmeritorious.

The tribunal headed by Justice Nasiru Gunmi subsequently fixed Thursday, August 27, 2015 for hearing to commence in the substantive petition filed by the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru challenging Dr. Okowa  as winner of the 2015 governorship election in Delta State.

The respondent-applicants had urged the three-man tribunal to set aside the subpoena it issued for Ogboru to  call witnesses to testify and tender documents. The tribunal after examining the issues before it asked: “ What should constitute extreme circumstance that will require an applicant to bring witnesses or affidavits in support of their various motions to warrant the granting of reliefs to bring their witnesses after the pre-hearing  session”. It declared: “We have critically examined the averments by the respondent-applicants in support of their various motions but we are not able to identify any averments that suggest circumstance about extremes that would have moved us to grant the reliefs sought without hesitation.”

It said the fact that documents were not listed as documents to be relied on at the trial can only be discussed when the documents are presented and are admitted by the witness subpoenaed and not otherwise. It also held that there is no sufficient reason to persuade the tribunal to invalidate the subpoena already issued by it.

“In the final analysis, we are of the view that the respondent-applicant has not provided good reasons for this tribunal to set aside the subpoena issued,” it said, adding that the motions of the respondent-applicants are unmeritorious, and that the tree motions are therefore dismissed.

Banner Media Network recalls that the tribunal gave a similar verdict last Friday against Okowa, the PDP and INEC in the motions they brought against Chief O’tega Emerhor of All Progressive Congress (APC) in a petition in which Emerhor is also challenging Dr. Okowa as the winner of the last governorship election in the state. In their ruling the tribunal dismissed the three motions by Okowa, PDP and INEC that asked the tribunal to set aside the subpoena issued for Emerhor to call witnesses to testify and tender documents.

The ruling in favour of Emerhor therefore cleared the way for the commencement of the substantive  petition to be heard on Tuesday, August 25, 2015.