Katsina Inaugurates LG Election Appeal Tribunals

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The Katsina State Chief Judge (CJ), Justice Musa Danladi Abubakar, has inaugurated the Local Government (LG) Election Petition and Appeal Tribunals across the three senatorial zones of the state.

The tribunals will hear petitions emanating from the state local government elections which took place on April 11, 2022.

The state supervising Judge, Justice Abas Bawale Abdullahi, who disclosed this to journalists Monday, said chairmen and members of the Election Tribunals would be sworn in on April 20, 2022.

He added that the chief judge constituted the tribunals in accordance with the provisions of section 79, 81 subsection 1, 2 and 3 of the state Local Government Councils Electoral Law of 2002.

He explained that the Election Tribunal has 90 days within which to determine petitions filed before it, while the Appeal Tribunal has 30 days to determine appeals arising from the decision of the Election Tribunals.

Abdullahi said: “Three local government Election Tribunals are hereby established one for each of the three senatorial zones in the state, namely Katsina, Funtua and Daura senatorial zones.

“The Local Government Election Tribunals for Katsina and Funtua senatorial zones shall sit at Katsina, while the Local Government Election Tribunal for Daura shall sit at Daura.

“Furthermore, practice directions issued by the Hon. Chief Judge pursuant to the relevant laws to guide the filing and conduct of the election petition and appeal are available at the secretariat of the Local government Election Tribunal, Katsina for end users.”

He reiterated that all processes in respect of petitions are to be filed at the secretariat of the Local Government Election Tribunal, Katsina for ease of logistics.