Imo Election Tribunal begins sitting

The Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Owerri, yesterday, began proceedings, with five motions before it.

Of the five, the tribunal ruled on two ex parte motions, while the other three were adjourned till May 13.

One of the two ex parte motions was filed by Accord Party versus four others and the other was filed by Donatus Ozoemena of the All Progressives Congress (APC) against Goodluck Opia and six others.

Chairman of the Tribunal Justice A.Y. Sanya, after hearing arguments by the counsel to Ozoemena, granted three reliefs sought by the petitioner and struck out two others.

Ozoemena, through his counsel, urged the tribunal to allow him withdraw the fourth and fifth reliefs, which sought to direct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue him with the Certified True Copies of the documents in her custody.

The other relief was for the tribunal to deem the processes as properly filed.

The motion filed by Accord Party, which sought relief for the tribunal to allow a pre-trial date, and to serve notices to INEC and Athan Achonu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was granted.

Earlier, in his introductory remarks, Justice Sanya appealed to parties to co-operate with the panel by respecting the ground rules.

He warned the public against unruly conduct, adding that anyone identified for contempt would be punished.