The National Assembly Election petition tribunal sitting in Jos Plateau State on Tuesday held a sitting outside the pre-trial session.
The emergency sitting held was to attend to six ex parte applications brought before it by applicants who participated in the February, 25 elections as candidates of their various political parties but lost out.
Judiciary correspondents gathered that the tribunal sitting at West of Mines on Tuesday commenced hearing on applications of aggrieved candidates of the 25th February 2023.
However, out of the number of the petitions, five are for House of Representatives while one is for Plateau North Senatorial seat.
All the six petitioners presented their prayers through exparte applications.
Ibrahim Baba Hassan’s petition is against the victory of Musa Agah Aviah of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for The Jos North Bassa House of Representative seat.
His counsel Ishaq Magaji, a Seniour Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, had through an exparte application sought the powers of the tribunal to direct the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to avail him access to the gamut of documents relating to the election that was conducted in the federal constituency for inspection to include the list of polling unit results as uploaded by the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System.
Hassan also requested for records of publications of all the units in the federal constituency.
The same counsel, Magaji, SAN, is representing Ambassador Chris Giwa who is challenging his loss to Dr Simon Mwatkwong Fwet for the Plateau North Senatorial seat.
Chrisantus John of the PDP is challenging the Victory of Yusuf Adamu Gagdi for the Pankshin Kanke Kanam Federal constituency seat. So too is Solomon Bulus Maren for Mangu Bokkos Federal Constituency whose petition is however against INEC.
Ibrahim Kanje Bawa of the PDP is also challenging the victory of the current Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Ahmed Idris Wase for the Wase Federal Constituency, describing his lose as “a product of superior rigging which is not good for the system”.
However, Fom Dalyop Chollom of the Labour Party through an ex parte application by his counsel B. I. Shehu is also holding INEC to account by demanding for the release of documents used for the February 25 election.
Incidentally this lone issue turned out to be the only prayers of all the petitioners before the Tribunal.
In its response to all the ex parte applications, the tribunal in its unanimous ruling viewed all applicants the pleas as meritorious and in the interest of justice granted all and directed INEC to make available unto the party’s access to all the materials sought for inspection.
No date was set when the tribunal holds its pre- trial conference which will set in motion process for the full sitting of the tribunal.
