Over a month after the inauguration of the Rivers State Election Petition tribunal, facts emerged yesterday why the tribunal is yet to commence full sitting.
The Secretary of the tribunal Deborah Musa told our Correspondent that parties in the tribunal are at the moment exchanging processes.
But a source in the tribunal said sitting may likely commence today.
The All Progressive Congress (APC) in Rivers State and its candidate, Dakuku Peterside dragged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the governor of the state, Chief Nyesom Wike before the tribunal to challenge his victory at the April 11 election in the state.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Wike as the winner of the election.
Musa said the tribunal will commence full sitting immediately the exchange of processes are concluded among parties in the case.
"All the parties in the matter before the tribunal are still filing and exchanging processes and immediately that is concluded, the tribunal will commence full sitting. It is necessary for the parties to file and serve on themseves processes filed so that there will be no delay when hearing commence fully", Musa said.
The source who spoke with our Correspondent said part of the delay was because the processes filed were very volumnous and are all being certified one after the others as well as the evasion of service by Gov.Wike and the PDP.
Last month, the tribunal ordered that the state governor should be served with the court summon through substituted means.
Counsel to the APC had told the tribunal that he was unable to to serve the governor.
At the inaugural sitting Akeredolu 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 Muazu Abdulkadir Pindiga granted the prayer of the petitioner and ordered that substituted service be effected on the defendant either by pasting the court process on his gate or at the office of the PDP secretariat in Rivers state or in Abuja.
The panel said it would communicate the parties in the petition as to the next adjourned date. Other defendants in the petition are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the PDP.
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