Updated: Justice Damulak Led Tribunal Panel To Adjorn Indefinitely
Updated [correction]:
[The Anambra Governorship Election Tribunal has adjorned indefinitely the ruling on ACN Motion for the members to recuse themselves from petition. This is sequel to following a similar Motion filed in Petition No. 3 Dr Christian Okoli of UNPP. The tribunal will inform the partiesof a new date for the ruling later.
Meanwhile the motion for disqualification of tribunal members filed by Dr. Okoli will be argued on September 1st 2010]
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{below is the old story}
As you read this, the Hon Justice Pius Damulak led Anambra state governorship election tribunal sitting in the premises of the Anambra state judiciary, Awka is sitting this morning, and already started giving ruling in an application brought before it by the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN and their candidate in the 2010 governorship election, Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige.
All things being equal, there is hope that the tribunal panel which is being accused by the ACN of bias in its judgment against the Hope Democratic Party in a similar matter brought before it by the CAN would excuse themselves today at the end of the ruling, giving way for the President of the court of Appeal to reconstitute a fresh panel.
The Action Congress of Nigeria through its counsel, Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN) had brought an application before the panel immediately after the judgment delivered by the panel to the favour of the respondent, Mr. Peter Obi, asking the judges to disqualify itself for being biased in the matter.
Ngige had called for a new panel to be constituted, saying that since the issues in which the HDP sought relief are also the same as that of other parties, and hence the tribunal has ruled in favour of Obi, it would not reverse itself by hearing the matters of the other parties differently.
After haering the arguments of the counsels to both the plaintiff and the respondent, the tribunal had accepted that ruling on the matter be fixed for this morning.
Information sourced from those who claimed to be in the know showed that the judges may today excused themselves from the position. A source said that it is allowed in law for a judge to disqualify himself from a particular matter, especially when he knows that he has made a mistake in the way he handled a particular matter. The source cited Justice Auta, who was said to have done same recently.
In a recent meeting of the ACN, Hon Ben Chuks Nwosu, a member of the party who briefed members on the ongoing matter at the tribunal said that the party has looked seriously at the way the panel is handling the matter and is very convinced that they would not give them justice, leading to the call for their disqualification.
As we await the ruling of the tribunal panel today, in just a few hours it would be clear if the Damulak led tribunal would continue or not. Ukpakareports.com would bring you details as quickly as the ruling comes.