Tribunal: Party, lawyer contradict their own candidate, urge panel to dismiss case

The African Action Congress (AAC) urged the Rivers State tribunal to dismiss the petition of its gubernatorial candidate, Biokpomabo Awara, challenging the return of Governor Nyesom Wike as winner of the March poll.

Its lawyer, Henry Bello, made the submission while adopting the party’s final written in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

He urged the panel to place value on the video clip before it which “authenticated the declaration of the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Wike, as winner of the March 9, 2019 exercise.”

“A lawyer should not promote a case which to his knowledge is false. Every iota of their case is made in falsehood. Therefore, counsel for the party presenting the truth before the tribunal deserves commendation.

“My Lord, I want the court to rely eminently on the evidence of PW21. His evidence and the video played lay credence to PW21 evidence. I, Henry Bello on behalf of the second respondent (AAC), hereby consented to the dismissal of this petition.”

Awara, in his application, wants the tribunal to nullify the election and order a rerun.

PDP’s attorney, Ahmed Raji (SAN) also urged the tribunal to disregard Awara’s petition, considering the prayers by his party that the petition be dismissed even as witnesses testified that the election was peaceful in the state.

“In reaction to the petitioner’s response dated September 27, 2019, I rely on due process and urged the court to dismiss the petition in the sense that the second petitioner clearly considered and admitted that the petition should be dismissed,” he said in a written address.

“Not a single witness of the petitioner was called from the polling unit, neither ward agent nor state agent. They said the election was peaceful, free and fair.

“The first petitioner has not presented to the court any other separate results other than the one tendered by the first respondent (INEC). We seek the court to dismiss the petition, which is from a disunited house, even from the onset. We will not want a disunited house to come and cause commotion in the state.”

Governor Wike’s lawyer, Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), adopted the position of the PDP. He reminded the tribunal that Awara had called witnesses that “contradicted his petition”, arguing that here was no basis to further debate the matter.”