Edo Election Tribunal Relocates To Abuja
The Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has announced its relocation from Benin City to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
In a notice dated January 24, 2025, and signed by the Tribunal Secretary, Mu’azu Bagudu, parties to the case were informed of the relocation.
The notice read in part, “I am directed to notify all parties that the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Benin City, Edo State, has been relocated to Abuja at the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Airport Road, Abuja, effective from Monday, 27th January, 2025.”
No reason was given for the relocation.
Recall it was reported that gunshots erupted near the venue of the Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led, three-member Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal on Wednesday morning last week, causing widespread panic.
Lawyers, litigants, politicians, and reporters scrambled for safety to avoid being hit by stray bullets, our correspondent gathered.
However, swift intervention by fully-armed security operatives restored calm, allowing the tribunal sitting at the Edo High Court Complex on Sapele Road, Benin, to continue.
The former representative of Edo Central Senatorial District, Senator Monday Okpebholo, of the APC, won the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo, and was inaugurated on November 12 last year.
Seven of 18 political parties that participated in the election, which filed petitions at the tribunal, were Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Action Democratic Party (ADP), Accord (A), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and Action Alliance (AA), which wanted their candidates to be declared winner of the keenly-contested poll.
