THE rising issue of insecurity and purported fears of plots to burn down the building housing the tribunal may have been responsible for the relocation of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal from Benin City to Abuja where it would resume sitting on Tuesday.

Though this reason was not adduced in the terse statement by the Secretary of the Tribunal, Mu?azu Bagudu Esq., a member of the tribunal told Vanguard on Saturday that the reason was because of security issues ?it is for security reasons, they have been having fights there and having clashes there and there are fears that they will want to burn the place so we have to do that for the safety of all.?

The Tribunal was still sitting when Bagudu issued a notice which read that ?I am directed to notify all parties that the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Benin City, Edo State, has been relocated to Abuja at the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Airport Road, Abuja, effective from Monday, 27th January, 2025.?

Reacting to the development, the Edo State Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peter Uwadiae-Igbinigie, accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of orchestrating the relocation and said his party?s counsel were ready to meet the PDP witnesses headlong at the tribunal.

He said, ?The relocation was due to pressure from the PDP camp. First, they claimed that their witnesses do not feel free to come and give evidence. That is a far cry from the truth because their witnesses have access to the court.

?Principally, they have discovered to their serious surprise that the witnesses they so much relied on have been reduced to mere nothingness in court as they have not been able to add value to the PDP case with their evidence.

?They also feel that the media attention their fumbling witnesses are getting is not doing their case any good and they have been insisting that they want to go to an environment where interest and publicity will be reduced. Not too many people will want to go to Abuja for the case.

In response, the Publicity Secretary of the state PDP caretaker committee, Chris Nehikhare, said that the concrete evidence presented by his party, which has led to undue pressure from APC chieftains, must have led to the relocation of the tribunal.

He said, ?Given the nature of the case and the volume of concrete evidence presented by the witnesses, the Tribunal reckoned that it will be unsafe to continue the proceedings in Benin City following undue pressure and several threats by notable APC chieftains in Edo State to disrupt the Tribunal proceedings.

?It is believed that a neutral and more secure location not under the control of state and non-state actors was necessary in the interests of justice.?

Recall that during its pre-hearing session, leading counsel to the PDP, Ken Mozia said the party had advised its supporters to stay away from the tribunal while they prove their case of rigging against those declared winners of the election.

But when it resumed, people suspected to be loyalists of the PDP as they wore white face caps and T-Shirts stormed the court premises but they were chased out of the premises and that resulted in gunshots around the area.

There was also a sitting where suspected supporters of the APC tried to prevent a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who is one of the counsels to the PDP from entering their vehicle on the allegation that he went away with a government vehicle when he worked with the state government.

In another development, a private bodyguard was beaten by suspected thugs out of the tribunal on the allegation that he is not a security agency and has no business in screening who should be inside the court or not.

There was also another incident of gunshots in Ezoti Street near the tribunal by an individual on white to-shirt, cap and a face mask and just a few days after there was an altercation between a hooded DSS official and some journalists that resulted in him even corking his gun to shoot. (Saturday Vanguard)

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