From Godwin Tsa, Abuja and Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
The Ebonyi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has upheld the election of Francis Nwifuru as governor of the state after dismissing the two petitions against his victory by the candidates of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Benard Odoh and that of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) Ifeanyi Odii for lacking in merit.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr Nwifuru, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the 18 March governorship election in the state.
Mr Nwifuru polled 199,131votes to defeat his closest challenger, Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 80,191 votes.
However, in his petition marked EPT/EB/GOV/01/2023, the candidate of the APGA, Prof. Benard Odoh alleged that Governor Francis Nwifuru was declared in error as Governor by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The Tribunal which began sitting in Abakaliki capital of the state was later moved to Federal Capital Territory, Abuja following security concerns by the opposition parties.
Prof. Odoh and his party, the APGA, challenged the declaration of Mr Nwifuru as the elected governor of the state and asked the tribunal to nullify his election on the grounds of alleged certificate forgery and “ineligibility” to stand for the election.
The APGA governorship candidate had equally urged the tribunal to hold that at the time of the gubernatorial election, Nwifuru was not qualified to contest on the grounds that he was still holding sway as Speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), instead of the All Progressives Congress, under which he was declared as governor by INEC.
In summary, the case of the Petitioner’s is that the 2nd Respondent cannot be qualified to contest the election as candidate of the 3rd Respondent while being a member of another Political party in gross violation of both the Electoral Act 2022 and the 1999 Constitution
But counsel to Nwifuru, Onyechi Ikpeazu, a SAN, prayed the court to dismiss the suits for being unmeritorious.
The three-member panel headed by Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, dismissed the petitions for lacking in merit.But in a reaction, Prof. Odoh, said he would appeal the judgement, and urged his supporters to remain calm and hopeful.
“It is not over yet. Let your hearts and souls not be troubled as a result of today’s ruling by the Ebonyi State Governorship Election Tribunal. However, due to our level of political socialisation and culture some of you will be mocked and cajoled for believing and standing with us throughout the journey till now. Don’t worry, you’re on the right part of history as the storm would certainly be over. Greatness is not achieved by being a mediocre mind. Remain firm while we journey till the end.
“History and posterity will be kind to all men and women who stood firm for the right course of action towards advancing our democracy and advocating for a better society where rule of law, justice and fairness is attainable.
“We have directed our legal Team to review the judgement and commence appeal processes as provided by law.
“We shall get to the finishing line joyfully by exploring and exhausting all the legal processes as provided by our law as this would lay the desired foundation for the future we all desire and deserve for our dear state.”