- APC Sent People to Disrupt Court Proceedings — PDP
- Stop Making False Claims, Count Us Out Of Such Act,-APC
By Kolawole Ojebisi
The reported disruption of the proceeding at the Edo State High Court in Benin, the venue for the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal’s inaugural sitting, on Monday, has sparked accusations and counter-accusations between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The New Diplomat had reported how some individuals suspected to be political thugs besieged the venue of the tribunal causing momentary disruption of proceedings.
The incident was reportedly caused by individuals wearing white baseball caps and T-shirts with allegedly inciting inscriptions, which angered rival supporters.
Reacting to the development, the Edo PDP Caretaker Committee Chairman, Tony Aziegbemi, accused the APC and Governor Monday Okpehbolo of purportedly sending thugs after the PDP members who were at the court.
“It was clear that the APC and Governor Okpebholo sent thugs after the PDP members at the court,” Aziegbemi alleged. “They were the aggressors and we have reported the case to the police.”
But the Edo APC Publicity Secretary, Peter Uwadiae-Igbinigie, denied the involvement of the party’s supporters, accusing the PDP of making wild and false claims that can’t be sustained and substantiated.
“The APC and the state governor will never be involved in any chaotic situation, especially in the court. I saw the video and you cannot say the parties involved in the melee. But our members do not involve themselves in things like that and hopefully the police can arrest those involved,” he said.
Meanwhile, during the tribunal’s sitting, the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Wilfred Kpochi, had urged all stakeholders, including political parties, parties in the suit, their supporters, counsel, security agencies, and the media, to cooperate for a smooth and successful hearing.
Recall that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Asue Ighodalo, is challenging the September 21, 2024 election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo.
Others challenging the result of the election are the Accord Party; Allied Peoples Movement; Action Democratic Party; Zenith Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party.
Justice Kpochi, who sat with the other two members of the panel, Justices A.B. Yusuf and A.A. Adewole, also urged the counsels not to engage in unnecessary arguments that could lead to shouting and jeopardise the conducive atmosphere he met.
He said, “I am impressed by the conducive and calm environment I am seeing and going forward, I will want this to continue. I appeal to you all to let us put our eyes on the ball so that we can have serene proceedings.
“You have SANs and very senior lawyers here, nobody is going to shout at you, please don’t also shout at us. If there are areas you feel not comfortable about, please draw our attention to it.”
Responding, one of the lead counsel for Ighodalo, Ken Mozia (SAN), pledged their commitment to the proceedings as long as other parties would do the same.
“We will do our best to represent our client and we have admonished his supporters to be civil and not to even be on the court premises and we will do our best to cooperate with you,” he said.
On his part, lead counsel for Governor Okpehbolo, Oyinyechi Ikpazu (SAN), said they were ready to cooperate with the panel and other parties in the suits to ensure a smooth exercise.
He added, “We sue for understanding; we have done cases together, we have also done cases against each other, so we know one another and we will give our maximum cooperation.”
The Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Benin chapter, Idemudia Osifo, while pledging cooperation from the association, expressed concerns about the hall where the sitting is taking place, saying it is too small for the number of people present.
Responding, Justice Kpochi said he had taken note of that.
At the Monday inaugural sitting, Ighodalo, accompanied by the Edo PDP Chairman,Tony Aziegbemi , was present but Okpebholo was absent.
The All Progressives Congress was represented by its Edo State Legal Adviser, Stephen Okoror, accompanied by other chieftains of the party, including a former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Frank Okiye.
The Court adjourned till Wednesday, December 18 in continuation of the pre-hearing sitting.
Before adjourning sitting, Justice Kpochi said it was expected that all the parties would have completed all necessary preliminary actions and also agree on a pattern of hearing when full sitting commences
