SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS THE ELECTION OF GOVERNOR SIMINALAYI FUBARA OF RIVERS STATE 25-01-24
By Sadiq Aminu The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State.
Delivering judgment, a Five-Man Panel of Justices of the Apex Court, led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun unanimously dismissed as lacking in merit, an appeal the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Tonye Cole, filed to challenge the outcome of the governorship election that held in the state on March 18, 2023.
In the lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, the apex court said it found no reason to dislodge the concurrent verdicts of the Court of Appeal and the Rivers State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which upheld Fubara’s victory at the poll.
The apex court held that Cole did not establish that the election was not conducted in compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The APC had pulled out from the case against governor Fubara of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, while it was being heard by the Rivers State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.
Despite the position of the party not to challenge the declaration of Fubara as winner of the gubernatorial contest by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mr. Cole, maintained that he would prosecute his petition to its logical conclusion.
INEC had declared that Fubara of the PDP polled a total of 302,614 votes to defeat his closets rival, Cole of the APC who got a total of 95,274 votes.