Eyes on Edo Tribunal As the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which relocated to Abuja penultmate week continues to sit, the people of the state are hoping that it will maintain impartiality and independence, as well as upholds the rule of law and the principles of democracy, Davidson Iriekpen writes The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal began sitting last week in Abuja. As the legal process proceeds, everyone is watching and waiting to see how the judges will respond to the challenge of justice in the electoral matter. The tribunal, which had been sitting in Benin City, the Edo State capital, recently announced its relocation to Abuja for the continuation of the hearing. It was gathered that the relocation to Abuja was at the instance of President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem. She was said to have become uncomfortable with an allegedly toxic atmosphere in which the tribunal conducted its affairs in Benin City. A source close to the electoral court claimed that the movement was due to insecurity at the premises of the tribunal in Benin City. The lives of the judges, counsel, witnesses, and others were believed to be at risk each time the tribunal sat. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the September 21, 2024 governorship election in the state with a total of 291,667 votes. His closest rival, Mr. Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), got a total of 247,655 votes. But dissatisfied with the outcome of the poll, the PDP and Ighodalo approached the tribunal, praying it to nullify INEC’s declaration of APC and Okpebholo as winners of the contest. The petitioners, among other things, alleged non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act. They equally argued in the petition, marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, that Okpebholo did not secure the highest number of lawful votes cast at the election. Before the relocation of the tribunal to Abuja, the petitioners had opened their case by tendering over 1,000 documents before the tribunal in their efforts to prove their case that Ighodalo truly won the poll. Last week, the petitioners, satisfied with the evidence of 19 witnesses they produced to testify before the tribunal, closed their case. However, since the tribunal relocated to Abuja, there have been rumours that the decision was actually a ploy to facilitate undue pressure and influence on the court and induce its members by one of the parties. Lovers of democracy are worried by this allegation. They only hope the change of venue will not affect justice or encourage interference by the powers that be in the nation’s capital. Before the governorship election, all the odds were stacked against Ighodalo and PDP, as many questioned the neutrality of the police and INEC. The concerns followed allegations that the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Anugbum Onuoha, and the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Nemi Edwin- Iwo, were allies of Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike. While the REC was alleged to be Wike’s cousin, who had also served as his Special Adviser on Lands when he was the governor of Rivers State, the police commissioner, who was said to be an indigene of Rivers State, was alleged to be an associate of Wike, a known political enemy of the then Governor Godwin Obaseki.