Rivers gov’ship: Tribunal upholds Gov Fubara’s election

The Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has upheld the election of Governor Siminalayi Fubara in the March 18 governorship election.

A three-member panel of justices presided by Justice Cletus Emifonye unanimously dismissed all the petitions filed against the election of Fubara and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and its candidate, Innocent Ekwu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tonye Harry, who stood without the party, and the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Beatrice Itubo had in their separate petitions challenged the election over alleged malpractices and irregularities, non-compliance and non-qualification against the PDP and INEC.

The panel, in dismissing the APM petition, held that it lacked merit and awarded the sum of N500,000 in cost in favour of the PDP.

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The panel further noted that Ekwu lacked the locus standi to institute the petition as he did not contest the governorship election as it was Whyte Churchill, who contested on the APM’s platform.

Similarly, the panel dismissed the petitions of the APC and LP for lack of locus standi and merit respectively.