TheCable

The supreme court has reserved judgment on the appeal filed by Tonye Cole, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), seeking to void the election of Siminalayi Fubara as Rivers state governor.

A five-member panel of the court led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun reserved judgment on the appeal after all parties in the suit adopted their briefs of arguments on Monday.

The court also dismissed an appeal by Innocent Kere, candidate of the Allied People’s Movement (APM), after his lawyer applied to withdraw it.

Fubara of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was declared winner of the governorship election after he scored 302,614 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Cole, who polled 95,274 votes.

Displeased with the outcome of the election, Cole approached the tribunal to nullify Fubara’s victory and declare him winner.

Cole contended that the election was marred by irregularities, non-compliance with the Electoral Act and that Fubara did not resign from office as Rivers state accountant-general before the election — as required by the constitution.

In October, the tribunal dismissed Cole’s petition, saying the party that sponsored him had withdrawn its suit.