Abia North rerun: Tribunal chairman warns against fraudulent overtures to members

Chairman of the Abia North senatorial rerun tribunal Umuahia, Justice James Abundaga, has warned  parties to the petition before him to ignore overtures made to them by anyone.
He  gave the warning  yesterday at the continuation of the petitionbrought against Senator Mao Ohuabunwa of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the former governor and candidate of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), Dr Orji Uzor Kalu.
“In these days of dishonesty, let no one deceive any of you that he has a way of reaching any of us. If you see any such person, arrest him. Go to our states and find out our background, be not deceived,” the chairman warned.
He adjourned sitting to August 8 for the adoption of addresses and appealed to counsel to make their addresses brief and straight to the point to reduce the time spent on studying them.
Abundaga  directed that the respondent’s reply should be served on or before July 27 while the reply on points of law must be filed on July 30.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had earlier tendered certified true copies of documents used in the rerun without calling any witness.
The chairman shifted the adjourned date to August 8, after counsel to Dr. Kalu, Kelvin Nwufo drew his attention to the fact that the earlier adjourned date was a Sunday.
Counsel to Ohuabunwa, Mike Onyeka, had appealed to the tribunal for one extra day to be able to conclude, but Nwufo opposed it on the ground that all parties should stick to the days allotted by the tribunal in order to conclude in record time.
The chairman ruled that the days allotted to the parties are to abridge the time so that the tribunal will have enough time to write the judgment.
He said  early conclusion of the case was advantageous to the tribunal.
He said that submission of written addresses should start Wednesday and no longer on Tuesday which he said would serve as additional day for all parties. END- THE SUN