The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in the appeal filed against the electoral victory of Governor Siminalyi Fubara of Rivers State.
A five-member panel headed by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun reserved judgment on the appeal after all parties in the suit adopted their briefs of arguments on Monday.
The appeal was filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the March 18, 2023 elections, Patrick Tonye-Cole.
Tonye-Cole had filed an appeal against Fubara, claiming the Governor did not resign as Accountant General of the state within the deadline stipulated by the constitution and the Electoral Act before contesting the 2023 elections.
The APC candidate is insisting that Fubara was not qualified to contest the election, let alone be declared winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Cole and the APC are, by the appeal, seeking to set aside the November 28, 2023 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which affirmed Fubara’s election.
They argued that the election which produced Fubara was marred by irregularities, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The apex court also dismissed the appeal of Innocent Kere of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) after it was withdrawn by his counsel.
Tonye Cole, Rivers APC Give Condition To Ganduje-Led NWC On Reconciliation
The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its Governorship Candidate in the March 18 polls in the state, Tonye Cole, has given the Abdullahi Ganduje-led National Working Committee (NWC) its conditions of reconciliation with the party’s leadership.
Cole, back in September 2023, led a delegation of Rivers APC chieftains on a courtesy visit to Ganduje at the national headquarters of the ruling party in Abuja.
According to Cole, the Rivers APC would only reconcile with the party’s leadership if President Bola Tinubu compensated some of their ‘sons and daughters’ with significant positions in his administration.
The Rivers APC flag bearer said, in all honesty, the party was shocked to see the President appoint former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and some card-carrying members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into his cabinet.
He insisted that APC loyal supporters in the state don’t deserve to be left in the cold, noting that if the new leadership of the party truly wants to reconcile, then the President must appoint some of its loyalists.
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