The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi, has constituted and sworn in the chairmen and members of the Local Government Election Petition Tribunals ahead of the August 30 council elections in the state.
The tribunals will cover the three senatorial districts of Rivers State.
Chief Magistrate Kilsi Giadom was appointed as Chairman of the Rivers East Senatorial District Tribunal, with Promise Green and Christian John Jaja as members.
For the Rivers South East Senatorial District Tribunal, Chief Magistrate Harry Sotonye Linda was appointed as Chairman, while Anthony Enyinda and Azubuike Georgewill will serve as members.
In Rivers West Senatorial District, Chief Magistrate Chimenem Okekem was appointed as Chairman, with Israel Dagogo Israel and Ala Atonibere as members.
In his remarks after administering the oath of office on Tuesday, Justice Amadi charged the tribunal chairmen and members to discharge their duties fearlessly, firmly, and without bias, in the overall interest of the state.
He reminded them of the confidence reposed in them by the judiciary and cautioned them not to betray that trust.
Justice Amadi further explained that with the recent amendment to the law, the filing of petitions must now be done within five days after the election, while hearings must be concluded within 30 days, as against the previous three months.
Responding to criticism from a non-governmental organization, the Pilex Center for Civic Education Initiative, led by Nsirivomu Courage, which claimed that setting up the tribunals amounted to endorsing illegality, the Chief Judge insisted that the Rivers State Local Government Election Tribunals Law of 2000, as amended, empowers him to establish the tribunals, particularly in the absence of any subsisting court judgment against the election.
“What I’ve done is the statutory duty of the Chief Judge. I cannot on my own do anything. That’s what the law provides, that when there’s a local government election, the Chief Judge has to set up a tribunal.
“I didn’t do it under pressure from anyone. That’s what the law has been.
“The law was not made today. That’s the law that they’ve been using. I have served once as chairman of a local government election tribunal and it’s that law when I wasn’t the Chief Judge.
“So, people can go about saying things. The Chief Judge should not do his duty?
“If you’re challenging anything, you go to the court.”
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