January 12, (THEWILL) – The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Francis Nwifuru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Governor of Ebonyi State.
The apex court, in a unanimous decision of its five-member panel, affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, which dismissed the appeal of Chukwuma Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for lacking in merit.
Justice Jummai Sankey, who led the three-member panel of the appeal court, had held that the PDP and its candidates lacked the legal right to meddle in the internal affairs of the APC as it relates to the nomination of candidates.
The appellant had challenged the election of Nwifuru on the grounds of electoral malpractice. He also said Nwifuru was not properly sponsored by his political party for the March 2023 election.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Tijani Abubakar, who led a five-member panel of the apex court, held that “the appeal” was always going “to fall like a pack of cards”.
“It is unmeritorious and is dismissed,” Justice Abubakar ruled.
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