Lagos council polls: Candidates appeal tribunal’s verdict

No fewer than 22 candidates, who contested the July 22 Lagos State Council polls, have appealed the decisions of the Lagos State Local Government Election Petition Tribunals at the Appeal Tribunal.

Justice G. M. Onyeabo, the Cchairperson of the 2017 Local Government Election Petitions Appeal Tribunal, announced this on Wednesday at the tribunal’s inaugural sitting.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Onyeabo and four other justices — O. Kasali, A. Onigbanjo, O. A. Dabiri and K. A. Jose — made up the panel.

The tribunal, which was inaugurated on Oct. 23, will hear and determine the appeals within 21 days.

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The judge said: “Accordingly, therefore, any application for enlargement of time for the doing of an act or taking a step shall not be granted in such a manner as to extend the time for the determination of the appeal beyond the 21 days prescribed.

“To this end, the tribunal solicits the maximum cooperation from the bar to avoid needless time wasting applications.

“The parties and learned counsel should be rest assured that this panel will be fair to all the parties and follow the rules strictly. We will have to modify our sitting because of time constraint.

“We also appeal to all that there should be no hobnobbing with members of the panel and tribunal staff to allow us concentrate and perform this duty to the society to the best of our endeavour.”