The Supreme Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday affirmed the election of Siminalayi Fubara of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as duly elected governor of Rivers State while dismissing an appeal by the All Progressives Congress candidate, Tonye Cole.
The Informant247 gathered that Cole alleged that irregularities marred Rivers’s election and that Fubara did not validly resign his previous position as required by the law before the election, asking the apex court to sack Fubara as state governor.
The tribunal and the Court of Appeal dismissed his case for want of merit.
However, Justice Ibrahim Saulawa-led five-man in a unanimous decision held that the appellant failed to prove his allegations that there was non-compliance with the Electoral Act during the election.
INEC declares Fubara winner of gov’ship poll
Similanayi Fubara, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election in Rivers State.
The Returning Officer, while announcing the result in Port Harcourt, said Fubara garnered 302,614 votes to defeat his closest rival of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Pastor Tonye Cole, who scored a total of 95,274 votes, while the SDP candidate, Senator Magnus Abe, came third with a total of 46,981 votes.
The PDP governorship candidate won in all the 23 local government areas of the State.