The Young Progressives Party governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State, Senator Bassey Albert, has petitioned the President of the Court of Appeal, seeking the relocation of the Governorship Election Tribunal from Uyo, the state capital, to a safer location.
This, he said, was necessary for his safety and that of witnesses at the state election petition tribunal.
He sought that the tribunal be relocated to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
In a petition signed by his lawyer, Mr. Ahmed Raji, SAN, and acknowledged by the Appeal Court on Wednesday, Albert claimed that the tribunal venue was no longer safe for him and some witnesses following alleged threats to their lives by suspected armed personnel.
Albert, a former senator, is challenging the victory of Governor Umo Eno of the Peoples Democratic Party at the March 18 governorship election.
The petition made available to The PUNCH partly read, “I write to report an unusual and life-threatening spate of events, in the Governorship Election Tribunal, sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
“The primary complaint of my client in the petition, is that he ought to have been returned winner of the March 18, 2023, governorship election, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.”
He said the aggregation of events which climaxed during and after the proceedings of June 20, 2023, had “irresistibly prompted me to write this letter, not only for the safety of our lawyers, but for justice, equity and fairness,” which he claimed could no longer be realised in Uyo.
“To this end, I hereby apply with humility, on behalf of myself, my team of lawyers and the good people of Akwa Ibom State, that the Governorship Election Tribunal, sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, be relocated to Abuja — FCT,” he stated.
