On Monday, the All Progressives Congress candidate in Rivers State, Patrick Tonye Cole, will appeal to the Supreme Court in Abuja against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
In his appeal, Tonye-Cole claimed that Fubara failed to step down from his position as the state’s accountant general by the date set forth by the Electoral Act and the constitution.
In October 2023, Cole filed an appeal against the state election petition tribunal’s ruling, which had upheld Fubara’s victory. Cole expressed hope that the Appeal Court would reverse the ruling.
The case number is Gov/RV/121/2023/CA/ABJ/EP/Gov.
On November 28, 2023, the State and National Assembly Appeal Court in Lagos, however, upheld Fubara’s election in the governorship race that was held on March 18, 2023.
In a majority ruling, the Appeal Court dismissed the four distinct appeals that the All Progressive Congress’ Tonye Cole, the Labour Party’s Beatrice Itubo, the Allied People’s Movement’s Innocent Ekwu, and the Accord Party’s Lulu Briggs Dumo had submitted.
The Appellants’ inability to provide evidence supporting their claim of non-compliance with the Electoral Act was declared by the court.
The tribunal’s decision to reject Tonye Cole’s appeal on the grounds that the APC had supported him and dropped its challenge to Governor Fubara’s victory was also criticized by the court.
The appellate court additionally ruled that Tony Cole, the APC’s candidate, is free to file an appeal despite the party having withdrawn its lawsuit challenging Fubara’s election.