Port Harcourt, Rivers State — The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi, has formally sworn in the chairmen and members of the Local Government Election Petition Tribunals, ahead of the August 30 council elections. The move comes amid criticism from a non-governmental organization, which questioned the legality of the tribunals.
Justice Amadi constituted three tribunals to cover the state’s three senatorial districts. For the Rivers East Senatorial District Tribunal, Chief Magistrate Kilsi Giadom was appointed as chairman, with Promise Green and Christian John Jaja as members. Chief Magistrate Harry Sotonye Linda will chair the Rivers South East Tribunal, with Anthony Enyinda and Azubuike Georgewill as members. In Rivers West, Chief Magistrate Chimenem Okekem will serve as chairman, with Israel Dagogo Israel and Ala Atonibere as members.
In his remarks, Justice Amadi charged the tribunal members to carry out their duties with firmness, impartiality, and without fear. He emphasized that recent amendments to the law mandate that election petitions must be filed within five days of the election, with all hearings concluded within 30 days.
Responding to criticism from the Pilex Center for Civic Education Initiative, which argued the tribunals amounted to “endorsing illegality,” Justice Amadi insisted he was fulfilling his statutory duty as mandated by the Rivers State Local Government Election Tribunals Law of 2000, as amended.
“I didn’t do it under pressure from anyone. That’s what the law has been,” he stated. “The law was not made today. That’s the law that they’ve been using… If you’re challenging anything, you go to the court.”
