Justice Muazu Abdulkadir Pindiga of the Rivers State
Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has granted the requests of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) and its gubernatorial candidate in the April 11,
2015 governorship election in the state, Hon. Dakuku Peterside, to inspect
election materials used for the election.
The APC and its candidate had through their counsel, Chief
Akinlolu Olujinmi (SAN), sought the leave of the court to order the inspection
of electoral materials used for the governorship election in the state.
In the motion ex parte dated June 3 and filed on June 8,
counsel to APC and Dakuku, the lawyer prayed the court for an order allowing
the inspection of the electoral materials related to the conduct of the
gubernatorial election in the state.
He begged the court to order the inspections of Card Readers
Machines and records of electoral materials used in all the polling units in
the state.
In a short ruling, the tribunal granted the requests of the
applicants.
It however, asked the applicants to put the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and
the state governor, Nyesom Wike on notice on the other request to conduct a
forensic analysis on the computers, and computer servers used for the election.
The APC in the state and Peterside had dragged INEC, PDP and
Wike before the tribunal, challenging PDP’s victory in the April 11 election in
the state.
INEC declared Wike as the winner of the election.
Last month, the tribunal ordered that the state governor should be served with the court processes through substituted means.
Counsel to the APC had told the tribunal that he was unable
to serve the governor.
At the inaugural sitting of the tribunal, Mr. Rotimi
Akeredolu (SAN) who represented the APC, moved a motion ex-parte praying the
tribunal to grant an order for substituted service on the governor-elect.
He claimed that the court bailiff had on several occasions
visited the house of Wike to effect service on him but was on all the occasions
turned back at the gate by agents of Wike upon discovery that he is a court
bailiff.
In an affidavit deposed to by the bailiff and tendered by
the petitioner, the tribunal was told that neither the governor nor his agent
was ready to receive any court process from anybody.
He urged the tribunal to allow him paste the process on the
wall of Wike’s house in the interest of justice and to avoid unnecessary delay
of proceedings.
In a short ruling, Justice Pindiga granted the prayer of the
petitioner and ordered that substituted service be effected on Wike either by
pasting the court process on his gate or at the office of the PDP secretariat
in Rivers State or in Abuja.
The next adjourned date will be communicated to parties in the matter.
The next adjourned date will be communicated to parties in the matter.
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