September 27, (THEWILL) – The Ebonyi State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has upheld the election victory of Governor Francis Nwifuru in the March 18 gubernatorial election in the State.
The tribunal dismissed the petition filed by the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and its governorship candidate, Bernard Odoh, as well as the joint petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Ifeanyi Odii, against the election of Governor Nwifuru.
The Independent National Election Commission(INEC) had declared Nwifuru as the winner of the March 18 governorship election after he polled 199,131 votes across the 13 Local Government Areas of the State to beat his closest rival, Dr. Chukwuma Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 80,191 votes.
But Odii and his party, the PDP and the second runners-up, Bernard Odoh, and his party, APGA, had rejected the outcome of the poll.
Odoh, in his petition, prayed the Tribunal to disqualify Governor Nwifuru over alleged certificate forgery.
Contenting that Nwifuru was ineligibility to stand for the March 18 gubernatorial poll, Odoh, a geophysics Professor, argued that Nwifuru, at the time of the election, was still a member of the PDP and as such, was not eligible to be sponsored for the election by the APC.
The Petitioners also cited a subsisting judgment by Justice Henry Njoku of the Ebonyi State High Court, which ruled that Nwifuru and other lawmakers of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, who purportedly defected to the APC, are still members of the PDP.
They also alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022, by the Independent National Electoral Commission as well as electoral malpractices, among other infractions
But ruling on the two petitions on Wednesday, a three-member panel of Justices, led by Lekan Ogunmoye, rejected the prayers of the petitioners and upheld the argument of Governor Nwifuru and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the issues as pre-election matters.
Justice Ogunmoye noted that there is substantial material evidence before the Tribunal, which shows that Governor Nwifuru duly resigned his membership of the PDP.
The tribunal further held that the allegation of certificate forgery by Nwifuru lacked any evidence.
Justice Ogunmoye also noted that the tribunal has no power to entertain pre-election issues, adding that the petitioners have no locus to challenge the membership of a candidate of another political party
According to the tribunal, apart from an aspirant who participated in the governorship primaries of the APC in Ebonyi State, no other person has the right to challenge the membership of Nwifuru.
Consequently, the tribunal dismissed the two petitions and declared Nwifuru duly elected in the March 18 gubernatorial election in Ebonyi State.
