Group Chides Abia Govt Over Defence of Election Tribunal Members

Group Chides Abia Govt Over Defence of Election Tribunal Members A group, Good Governance for Greater Abia (GGGA) has chided Abia State Government over its alleged defence of members of the National and States Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, the state capital. The Tribunal had  come under criticism over its recent judgments, which were alleged to have tilted towards candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last elections, to which the opposition accused them (Tribunal members) of having compromised. But the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Godwin Adindu said in Umuahia that the Tribunal had discharged its duties professionally and cautioned APGA, whose action it described as sign of desperation, to desist from such actions  capable of poisoning the mind of the people against members of the tribunal. Chairman of GGGA, Francis Edu Okenwa, in a statement said it was unbecoming for a state government to defend members of the tribunal the way the CPS did in his recent statement. Okenwa said it was preposterous for the CPS to defend the tribunal when it was clear that its recent judgments as related to the last elections in the state called for much for questioning. He said even the lay man on the street knew that the tribunal’s verdict on most of the matters before it was a travesty of justice of the highest order and said if nothing was done to check this, the country would be doomed for ever. “Look at the type of verdicts given in states where there were semblance of election and you come to think of Abia State where figures were merely allotted and then see the type of judgments the tribunal gave which at best is mockery of the judiciary”, he said.