The Rivers State Chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) says information it received has it that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has formally written to the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa requesting for the disbandment of the Rivers State House of Assembly Election Tribunal [Panel 1] chaired by Justice Uchenna Okorie allegedly having been appointed in violation of Paragraphs 1[1] and [2] of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
The APC who noted this in a press statement signed by its publicity secretary, Mr. Chris Finebone said, “The APC is not averse to rectifying the constitution of any of the election petition panels as long as such action is to put right a cogent and verifiable error noticed in the process”.
Continuing, the party said: “In the case in point, the APC, as a law-abiding party, agrees that it was wrong to appoint the said Justice Uchenna Okorie being a Justice of the Customary Court of Appeal in Imo State instead of being a justice of the high court. However, we believe that the error might have been caused by the state that handled the nominations and not an error on the part of the President of the Customary Court of Appeal that constituted the panels”.
“The APC will always be in support of what is right unlike our opponents, the PDP who, time and again, allow selfish and pecuniary benefits to determine where they stand on major issues of constitutionality and play politics with everything.
“Therefore, the APC would like to urge the relevant authorities to do the needful with dispatch to thwart the penchant of the PDP to utilize every available opportunity to cause delays to the quick dispense of justice on election petitions pending at the various tribunals” the statement concluded.
Chris Finebone
State Publicity Secretary
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