Appeal Court rejects bid to relocate Ekiti governorship tribunal
By Boye Oyeyemi
The Court of Appeal has rejected a request by the counsel to the Social Democratic Party, Ebenezer Akinbuli, to relocate the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal from Ado-Ekiti over alleged security concerns.
The request followed an earlier application by the petitioners after Akinbuli was allegedly assaulted, raising concerns about the safety of lawyers and witnesses appearing before the tribunal.
However, the alleged assault has not been independently established by the tribunal.
The three-member panel, chaired by Justice Abubakar Kutigi, disclosed the Court of Appeal’s decision on Wednesday during proceedings in Ado-Ekiti, saying the tribunal remained properly constituted to continue hearing the petitions.
Akinbuli was absent from Wednesday’s sitting, while another letter was reportedly submitted on his behalf seeking an adjournment pending the determination of the application to relocate the proceedings.
Consequently, the tribunal adjourned the matter until Thursday, September 24, to clarify the conflicting communications and continue the hearing.
Counsel for the All Progressives Congress, Kabir Akingbolu, and counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission, Bunmi Ipinlaiye, told the tribunal they were unaware of the Court of Appeal’s decision, which was reportedly communicated through the tribunal’s secretary.
Akingbolu later told journalists that the SDP had renewed its request for a change of venue, stressing that the application concerned the SDP petition and not the separate petition filed by the Action Alliance. He also accused the petitioners of contributing to delays through repeated applications for adjournment and urged the parties to focus on the substantive issues arising from the June 20 governorship election, which produced Governor Biodun Oyebanji as the declared winner. The tribunal is expected to resume proceedings on Thursday as the legal challenge to the election outcome continues.
