By Ken Afor
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s candidate, Siminalayi Fubara, had his Rivers State Governorship election victory reaffirmed by an Appeal Court sitting in Lagos State on Tuesday.
The petition filed by Patrick Tonye-Cole, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, was dismissed by the Court.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was joined as a defendant in the petition.
It would be recalled that the Rivers State Tribunal had in October dismissed Cole’s petition, which failed to demonstrate that Fubara was unqualified to contest in the March 18 governorship election In the state.
This also follows the withdrawal of the petition by the Rivers APC faction that sponsored their candidate – Cole.
The APC candidate, unhappy with the decision, sought recourse from the appellate court.
But on Tuesday, the ruling of the court went against Cole, reaffirming the judgement of the tribunal.
It would be recalled that on the 20th of March, Fubara was declared winner of the election in the oil-rich state with a total of 302,614 votes to defeat his closest rival, Tonye Cole of the APC who garnered 95,274 votes
