Supreme Court of Nigeria, yesterday returned Emmanuel Udom as the governor of Akwa Ibom State and also set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, the Imo State capital, which had nullified the election of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
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The seven member-panel of Justices of the apex court led by the CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed declared Emmanuel dully elected.
It said it would advance reasons for its decision on February 15.
APC candidate Umana Okon Umana had challenged the April 11 election at the tribunal.
The appellate court which maintained that the tribunal was wrong in failing to nullify the entire election, the court ruled, setting aside the judgment of the tribunal in the 13 LGAs, ruled that “The entire election is hereby nullified”.
In a judgement late on Wednesday, the apex court upturned the judgement of the Court of Appeal, which annulled the election of Emmanuel.
The court had ordered him to vacate his seat as the state governor and declared Alex otti of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as the victor of the election.
The Publicity Secretary of APC, Mr. Ita Awak was optimistic that the Supreme Court judgment would be hinged on the weight and overwhelming evidence the APC brought before the court.
On 18 December, a five-man panel at the Court of Appeal dismissed cancelled Udom’s election, going further than the election tribunal that cancelled the election in 18 of the 31 local councils.
According to Justice Nweze, ”I have invested considerable Judicial time considering arguments on this appeal”.
He said the petitioners reckoned with the card reader as a means of accreditation during the election of April 11 but failed to agree with use of voter’s register. And the justice of it is that they will affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
He said the appeals had merit and allowed them.
But all the appeals were dismissed as the Appeal Court held that the tribunal rightly cancelled the election in the 18 LGAs.
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Ekweremadu, who hailed the Supreme Court as “the bastion of the nation’s democracy”, said the court’s verdicts on the election petitions “were not only resounding victories for the masses of Abia and Akwa Ibom States, but also for the nation’s democracy in general”.
