NWIFURU’S ELECTION AS EBONYI GOVERNOR IS UPHELD BY THE APPEAL COURT.

Babatunji Wusu –

The Court of Appeal in Lagos State has upheld Francis Nwifuru’s election as the legitimately elected Governor of Ebonyi State.

A three-man panel ruled on Friday that Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s appeal lacked substance.

Remember that the Ebonyi Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal confirmed Nwifuru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the South Eastern state’s governor.

Nwifuru, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the March 18 election, received 199, 131 votes to defeat Odii, who received 80, 191 votes. Bernard Odoh, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, came in third place with 52, 189 votes.

Dissatisfied with the election results, Odoh and the APGA filed the EPT/EB/GOV/01/2023 petition against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nwifuru, and the APC.

They claimed that the APC improperly selected Nwifuru as its flagbearer because he was still a member of the PDP as the speaker of the Ebonyi House of Assembly at the time of his nomination.

The tribunal dismissed the appeal submitted by Odoh and the APGA on the grounds that they lacked locus standi to dispute Nwifuru’s electoral victory on Wednesday.

The three-member panel, led by Lekan Ogunmoye, determined that the petitioners’ complaint was an internal APC matter.

The tribunal also ruled that the APGA failed to contest a federal high court decision that affirmed Nwifuru’s defection from the PDP to the APC.