Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have asked the Rivers State election tribunal sitting in Abuja to dismiss the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Dakuku Peterside for non compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
At the tribunal’s proceedings on Friday, Lawyer to the Governor, Emmanuel Ukala, argued that the petitioner has abandoned his case because he did not comply with statutory provisions of the Electoral Act and therefore his petition should be dismissed.
According to the PDP, failure to make the payment for any document filed in the petition is fatal to the case, as it does not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act or the rules of the tribunal.
Responding to the argument, counsel for the petitioners, Akin Olujimi, argued that he had not accrued any liability for his inability to pay any fees because the document upon which the respondents are relying on in their application was a voluntary letter written to the tribunal to request for the commencement of the pre-trial hearing.
Mr Olujimi also added that it is not prescribed anywhere in the Electoral Act that fees should be paid for such an action.
