Kogi State National Assembly and House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lokoja, has dismissed two applications brought before it by the senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Dino Melaiye and the All Progressives Congress (APC). Melaiye through his counsel urged the tribunal to dismiss itself from hearing the re-trial of the petition, believing that entertaining it would amount to acting contrary to the judgment of the Court of Appeal. He asked the tribunal to declare the petition as abandoned because of the petitioner’s failure to pay for filling fee for the application for issuance of pre-hearing notice. In his ruling on the two applications, chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Akinniyi Akintola dismissed it for lack of merit. Melaiye’s counsel had argued that the Appeal Court judgment, which ordered for the re-trial of the petition, specifically stated that the re-trial must be heard by Justice Akon Ikpeme, who first dismissed the petition, saying that the other panel headed by Justice Akintola has no jurisdiction to entertain the case. Counsel to Senator Smart Adeyemi, Dr. J.O Olatoke, SAN, urged the tribunal to refuse the application, saying that the transfer of the case from the first panel to the other is a mere administrative decision of the Appeal Court President and cannot be disputed at the tribunal. On the issue of payment, Olatoke informed that the issue has already been dealt with at the Appeal Court, describing the application by the 1st and 2nd respondents as frivolous and ungrantable, believing that it was “a calculated attempt at delaying the course of justice and frustrate the hearing of the petition.” In his ruling, Justice Akintola aligned with Olatoke’s prayer, saying that it has jurisdiction to entertain the case, adding that the transfer of the case to the panel was known to the first panel and not shrouded in secrecy as opined by the 1st and 2nd respondents and therefore dismissed it for lack of merit.
