Katsina Election Tribunal Relocates to Abuja for ‘Security’ Reasons

Katsina Election Tribunal Relocates to Abuja for ‘Security’ Reasons

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The Governorship, National and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Katsina has relocated to Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The tribunal, which was inaugurated six months ago, had been holding its sitting at the state High Court.

An administrative officer of the three-man panel, who pleaded anonymity, told journalists in Katsina Monday that the “tribunal has to relocate to Abuja for security reasons”.

The source, who did not disclose the new venue the tribunal would be sitting in Abuja, said: “The sitting is now taking place in Abuja and not in katsina again.”

However, the state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Salisu Yusuf Majigiri, in a telephone interview, told THISDAY that there was no official document informing the party of the relocation of the tribunal to Abuja.

He said PDP and its 2019 governorship candidate, Senator Yakubu Lado, would honour the “oral” invitation to attend the sitting in Abuja before they would make their final stand on the decision taken by the three-man panel.

According to him, “We have just been told of the change in the venue of the tribunal. It is now shifted to a magistrate court at Wuse, Abuja. We are on our way there now for the adoption of the addresses slated for tomorrow (Tuesday) before we can make our stand known to the public.”

Meanwhile, before the announcement of the new venue, the counsel to the parties in the governorship petition were supposed to adopt their various written addresses Monday before the tribunal will give a date for the ruling on the petition.

Senator Lado and his party, PDP, had dragged Governor Aminu Bello Masari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) before the tribunal challenging the result of the March 9, 2019 governorship election.

Governor Masari, APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are the first, second and the third respondents in the petition.

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