By George Azunda Chinda
It happened before, we stomached it and the resultant effect was the sack of nearly all the State and National Assembly members that won on the platform of the PDP. The outcome of the scripted shenanigans that played out was premeditated. We knew the outcome before it was pronounced. It was so because of the biased and sentimental position of the President of the Appellate Court.
This time, same person saddled with the composition of the election petition tribunal is at again citing “insecurity” as a basis. Nobody cared to ask how much of money ordinarily that would have remained within the economy of the state was “freighted” away to Abuja (flight, hotel, taxi, rent, and other sundry and miscellaneous expenses)
I am bothered because the leadership of the Appellate Court is compromised and no favourable judgement with respect to Rivers State can come out of it. Let’s not forget that this time, since the rerun election was decided on ‘simple majority’, the respondent (mostly APC candidates that lost squarely) would pray the court to declare them the winner.
To end this piece, I have three pertinent posers that requires answers for Hon. Zainab Bulkachuwa (PJCA) and all those in support of the relocation of the tribunal process to Abuja.
Does insecurity only pervade Rivers State when it’s time for setting up Election Petition Tribunals and becomes safe during elections?
Why wouldn’t INEC follow suit and fix Rivers’ election in Abuja and transport all the electorates registered to vote to the ‘Safe Abuja’ for that purpose?
Or is she indirectly saying that only the electorates are good to be ‘killed’ and not the witnesses and the learned justices?
#Enough_is_Enough #RiversState_is_Safe_for_Any_Venture