Abia State Government has condemned attempts and actions of some elements especially the major opposition party in the state to malign and assassinate the character, integrity and reputation of members of the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, saying that the Tribunal has lived up to expectation in attending to the petitions before it dispassionately.
Briefing journalists in his office, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Godwin Adindu, said the statements attributed to the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the state to the effect that the Chairman and members of the Tribunal were compromised and induced monetarily to divert justice was irresponsible and uncalled for.
According to him, such statements portrayed them as unpatriotic and uncivil adding that since there is still a window in the Appeal Court for further redress, there was no need for such unguarded statements which are capable of inciting the public and heating up the Abia polity.
The Chief Press Secretary condemned in its entirety the action of APGA in running serialized newspaper advertorials in a major national daily in which it openly accused the Abia election petition tribunal of being compromised, pointing out that such display amounted to a grievous disrespect and indignity to the persons of the jurists of the tribunal and to the judiciary as an institution.
He expressed surprise that the chairman of APGA, Rev. Augustine Ehiemere, who personally authored and signed one of the advertorials denied knowledge of the write-up thus portraying himself as desperate and undependable.
Adindu reaffirmed the Abia State Government’s respect for the judiciary and the rule of law and thanked the Abia election petition tribunal for a job well done.