Tribunal upholds Wike’s victory, dismisses petition


By Pat PA Okon

The Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Port Harcourt, has upheld Governor Nyesom Wike’s victory in the March 9 election.

It dismissed the petition by the Action Democratic Party (ADP) and its governorship candidate, Victor Fingesi, in the election.

The ADP was before the tribunal to challenge the victory of the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election.

Meanwhile, the three man petition tribunal panel led by Justice Kingsley A. Ojiako, dismissed the petition on Saturday for lacking in merit.

Recall that Fingesi and his party claimed that the governorship election did not hold in the State, following widespread violence, which was confirmed by a statement, signed and circulated, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

They however urged the court to nullify the entire election, declare INEC results which announced Wike winner of the exercise, null and void and order for a fresh poll.

Delivering the three-hour judgement, Justice Ojiakor ruled that the petition by the ADP lacked merit.

He said that the petitioners lacked locus standi to argue the position in court.

Also, Justice Ojiako ruled that the petitioner failed to present any reasonable cause of actions against the 2nd respondent (Wike), stating that the ADP candidate lacked the locus standi to present grounds 5&6 based on inconsistent paragraphs in the petition.

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