Rivers: Supreme Court Reserves Judgment On Gov'ship Appeal

 Governor Siminialayi Fubara 

The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in the appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Patrick Tonye-Cole against the victory of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

A five-member panel headed by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun announced the postponement of the appeal on Monday after all parties in the suit adopted their briefs of argument.

The APC candidate had approached the apex court on the grounds that Fubara did not resign as Accountant-General of the state, adding that he acted as accountant general exceeding the stipulated time as provided by the constitution and electoral act before the election.

Tonye-Cole further argued that Fubara was not qualified to contest or even to be declared winner of the election.

News Rider reports that the Appeal Court sitting in Lagos State had affirmed the election of Fubara as the governor of Rivers.

This was even as the court dismissed the petition filed by Tonye-Cole against Fubara, PDP and INEC.

Tonye-Cole had requested that the court should order INEC to declare him winner of the March 18, 2023, governorship election in Rivers.

But the court held that all the appellants failed to prove the allegation of non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

In addition, the court faulted the tribunal for dismissing Tonye-Cole’s appeal on the ground that APC sponsored him and had withdrawn the petition against Governor Fubara’s victory.

The appellate court submitted that the fact that APC withdrew its petition against Fubara’s victory did not prevent its candidate, Tonye-Cole from pursuing his appeal.