Nyior Henry Sekulla, the Secretary of the Election Petition Tribunal in Ebonyi State, announced on Wednesday that the Tribunal had received a directive from the President of the Court of Appeal, Monica Mensem, to relocate to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, with immediate effect. As a consequence, the Tribunal’s office at the Ebonyi State Judiciary Headquarters in Abakaliki has closed its activities from today.
According to Sekulla’s statement, all processes relating to matters before the Tribunal will continue to be conducted in Abuja, requiring petitioners and defendants to make arrangements to travel to the new location. It is unclear at this point why the Tribunal has been directed to move, but some have speculated that it may be due to concerns about the safety or impartiality of the Tribunal in its current location.
Sekulla noted that: “The Honourable Justice Monica Dongban Mensem, President Court of Appeal – HPCA has through the Deputy Chief Registrar, Election Petition Tribunal (EPT) Headquarters Abuja, directed the relocation of EPT sitting here to FCT Abuja”
“Therefore, in compliance with the HPCA directives, the petitioners, counsel to parties and the general public is hereby informed via this medium that, the EPT sitting here in Abakaliki thereby cease to operate in Abakaliki as at 26-04-23; filings of processes, taking of proceedings etc. shall henceforth continue at Abuja”.
Mr. Henry stated that he does not have the authority to disclose the reasons behind the decision to relocate the Tribunal to Abuja. Nevertheless, he mentioned that the Election Petition Tribunal in Rivers State and that of another state have also been impacted by this development.
