Edo tribunal begins hearing on petitions against Obaseki

The Edo State governorship election petitions tribunal on Friday commenced sitting on the petitions challenging the victory of Governor Godwin Obaseki in the September 19 governorship election in the state.

Obaseki, who contested the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was declared the winner of the poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after he secured the highest number of votes in the exercise.

The political parties challenging Obaseki’s election are the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

At the resumed sitting, the Chairman of the panel, Justice Abdulrazaq Abdulkareem, expressed optimism that the tribunal would attend to the five petitions within the stipulated time.

READ ALSO: Five parties challenge Obaseki’s election at Edo tribunal

He solicited the cooperation of all parties and counsel, saying the tribunal would perform its duties without prejudice for any party.

Abdulkareem said: “We wish to assure you that in our quest to get to the truth of the matters before us, we shall act in good faith and do our work with an open mind, without any form of bias or appearance of any preconception.

“We also pledge not to lend ourselves to any form of external influence.”

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