Supreme Court justifies relocation of Rivers tribunal

 

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has justified the relocation of the Rivers State governorship elections tribunal to Abuja, by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa.

A panel of the justices of the apex court led by Justice John Fabiyi in a judgment on an interlocutory appeal delivered in Abuja affirmed that Justice Bulkachuwa acted within her judicial powers to had ordered the relocation of the tribunal, as there were evidences that the state was a “theatre of war.”

The court also maintained that the relocated tribunal, which annulled the election of Nyesome Wike, was duly constituted as there were evidence of security challenges in the state, which posed a grave danger to the lives of the panel of judges and its supporting staff.

Justice Amiru Sanusi, who read the judgment, which was supported by the other judges, averred that, the relocation of the tribunal was to safeguard the lives of the members of the panel that heard the petition lodged against the acclaimed winner of the gubernatorial election.

“I agree with the Court of Appeal that the President of the Court of Appeal is right in relocating the panel to Abuja.

“On the whole, I hold that the tribunal was properly constituted by the President of the Court of Appeal even without consultation with the Chief Judge of Rivers State or the President of the Customary Court.

“Even though, as at then, there was no Chief Judge, and there was no President of the Customary Court. The consultation here is not as to the venue of the sitting but to get judges in Rivers state that will be part of the various election petition tribunals.

“It is necessary to protect members of the panel from the theatre of war to where their lives will be secured. The President of the Court of Appeal has the power and has judiciously utilised the power.

“The panel is properly constituted and it is not bereft of jurisdiction to hear the petition of the petitioner, the appeal lack merit and it is hereby dismissed,” the court held.

It would be recalled that the elections petition tribunal, in its ruling that annulled Wike’s election, had dismissed the objection to its relocation to Abuja, stating that it could sit outside the state where election was held to decide any dispute arising from such election on the grounds of insecurity.

The Court of Appeal had also upheld the decision of the tribunal, upon which the Supreme Court was subsequently approached.