Akwa Ibom governorship tribunal quashes APC petition against Gov Umo Eno

Pastor Umo Eno of the Peoples Democratic Party was declared the winner of the elections that took place on March 18, 2023. On Thursday, the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, rejected a petition filed by Akanimo Udofia, the candidate for governor of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the State.

Udofia petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to nullify Pastor Eno’s victory in the 2023 governorship election on the grounds that Eno had submitted fraudulent documents and had not received the most genuine votes.

Udofia also claimed that the second respondent was disqualified from running for office because he had a felony conviction from an Abuja Magistrate Court.

However, in a majority judgement in favor of Governor Umo Eno, the 2nd Respondent, the Tribunal found that the petitioners had not shown that there was considerable disobedience with the electoral legislation in the conduct of the elections.

The panel led by Justice Adekunle Adeleye also concluded that the magistrate court’s judgment vacating Pastor Umo Eno’s conviction is final and binding on all parties.

It is not the responsibility of the tribunal to evaluate the legality of the magistrate court’s decision to reverse its own ruling. The Abuja High Court has the authority to hear such cases.

Concerning the 2nd Respondent’s qualifications, the Tribunal insisted that Pastor Eno was the rightful holder of the WAEC certificates he presented to INEC.

The lead ruling was read by Justice Kadi Usman Sikudu, who ruled that the petitioners failed to prove that anyone other than Pastor Eno was the rightful owner of the 1981 WAEC certificate he presented to the 1st Respondent, INEC.

Also thrown out by the court was a report on the 2nd respondent’s WAEC scores that had been tendered by a well-respected officer of Interpol who had been subpoenaed by the petitioner.

For example, the petitioner claimed that the PDP had used Uwem Ekanem, a member of the board of directors at Ibom Power Company, as a collation agent in the Ikot Abasi local government area. However, the tribunal found that Ekanem’s position on the board could not be considered a political office and that a candidate should not be disqualified simply because his party agent served on the board of directors at a company.

Since Akanimo Udofia failed to provide evidence of violations of electoral law in even a single voting location during the March 18 Governorship Elections, the Tribunal dismissed his appeal as without merit.

Mr. Udofia had challenged Senator Bassey Albert’s eligibility for office, but the panel ruled against him.

The panel insisted that the convicted YPP candidate was eligible to run in the elections because his appeal was still pending at the time of the elections.

Since Senator Albert had previously run for the same office in the PDP, the panel also ruled that he was not ineligible to be fielded by YPP.

Since the petitioner was not a member of the YPP, the court found that he had no legal standing to contest the party’s choice of candidate or the process by which he was selected.

Earlier, applications filed by NNPP candidate for governor John James Akpan Udoedehe and ANC candidate for governor Ezekiel Nyaetok were dismissed by the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Uyo for being without merit.