The Supreme court on Friday, January 12, affirmed the election of Francis Nwifuru as Ebonyi state governor.
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ifeanyi Odii had challenged the election of Nwifuru on the grounds of electoral malpractice.
According to Odii, Nwifuru was not properly sponsored by his political party for the election held in 2023.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Tijani Abubakar, leading a five-member panel of the court, held that the appeal was always going to fall like what he described as a pack of cards.
“It is unmeritorious and is dismissed,” the court ruled.
It will be recalled that in March 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared Nwifuru, candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as winner of the Ebonyi governorship election after he polled 199,131 votes.
Ifeanyi Odii of the PDP secured 80,191 votes as Bernard Odoh, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, polled a distant third with 52,189 votes.
On the ground of dissatisfaction, Odii and Odoh had approached the tribunal, asking it to nullify Nwifuru’s victory and declare them winner.
They noted that Nwifuru was not a valid member of the APC at the time he contested the election.
In September 2023, the tribunal dismissed the petitioners’ petition and affirmed the victory of Nwifuru as the duly elected governor of the state. Also, the court of appeal dismissed their appeals and affirmed Nwifuru’s election.
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