APC lawyers write panels over security concerns at tribunal venues

Lawyers representing the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the ongoing local government election tribunals in Benue have written to the panels’ chairmen over growing security

By Emmanuel Antswen

Lawyers representing the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the ongoing local government election tribunals in Benue have written to the panels’ chairmen over growing security concerns at the tribunal venues.

The lawyers expressed their fears in three separate letters signed by Matthew Burkaa SAN, Mohammed Ndarani SAN, and Sunday Ameh SAN for Zone A, B & C senatorial districts, addressed to the tribunal chairmen and made available to newsmen in Makurdi.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the LG tribunals were all sitting in Makurdi.

In their letters titled “Re: Notice of Tribunal Sitting on Monday 24th February, 2025, and Our Security Concerns”, the lawyers urged the court not to sit because of the security concerns.

Burkaa, who is representing the Zone B senatorial district in his letter, said that he and his team were representing 294 respondents in all the pending 104 petitions before the tribunal in the zone.

Burkaa stated that they received notice through the Secretary of the Tribunal, Emmanuel Awuhe, via the ‘Local Government Petition Tribunal Makurdi’ WhatsApp group of the tribunal’s intention to sit on 24th Feb.

“By the said directive, we were notified that the tribunal would not sit on Friday, February 21, and that a new date for the petition(s), which ought to come up on the said Friday, will be communicated to counsel on Monday in court.

“In the same vein, we were also informed, as a hearing notice, that the tribunal will resume sitting on Monday, February 24, 2025.

“We hereby, with regard to the hearing notice against Monday, state our reservation against the said sitting of the tribunal on the following grounds:

“We have noted the brewing tense security situation around the court premises and within the state in the past few days.

“The state of affairs has created a serious security concern for us, as we fear for the safety of our team of lawyers and our clients should they attend the sitting on the said date.

“Consequent upon the above, we hereby respectfully request that the tribunal sitting be adjourned to a further and tentative date when adequate security measures would have been put in place to guarantee our collective security.

“We will be delighted if our request is granted with immediate and adequate consideration,” he said.

Also, Ndarani, SAN, who represents respondents in the 93 petitions pending before the tribunal in Zone A senatorial district, aligned completely with the Burkaa.

Ameh, SAN, counsel for Zone respondents in the pending petitions at the tribunal, said the issue of security raised in his letter was a serious one. (NAN)