Supreme Court affirms Nwifuru as Ebonyi governor

The Supreme Court, on Friday, January 12, 2024, upheld the election of Francis Nwifuru as the governor of Ebonyi State.

Justice Tijjani Abubakar, who delivered the judgement, dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Chukwuma Odii.

Justice Abubakar described the appeal as lacking in merit

The Court of Appeal in Lagos had earlier affirmed the election of Nwifuru All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected governor of Ebonyi State.

In a unanimous decision, the three-member panel led by Justice Jummai Sankey dismissed the appeal filed by Odii of the PDP.

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The panel also resolved all five issues raised against the appellant and dismissed the appeal for lacking merit.

Justice Sankey held that the PDP and its candidate lacked the legal right to meddle in the internal affairs of the APC as it relates to the nomination of candidates.

The Ebonyi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja had upheld the election of Nwifuru as the governor of the state.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that Nwifuru polled 199,131 votes to defeat Odii, who garnered 80,191 votes, in the 18 March governorship election in the state.

Bernard Odoh of APGA came third with 52,189 votes.

Odoh and APGA challenged the declaration of Nwifuru as the elected governor of Ebonyi State and asked the tribunal to nullify his election on the grounds of alleged certificate forgery and “ineligibility” to stand for the election.

The APGA candidate, a geophysics professor, contended that Nwifuru, at the time of the election, was still a member of the PDP and therefore ineligible to be sponsored for the election by the APC.

Odoh further argued that Nwifuru was not qualified to stand for the election because he allegedly submitted a fake certificate to INEC.

The Star