Justice Lekan Ogunmoye-led the three-member panel of the Ebonyi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja on Wednesday, dismissed a petition by the All Progressives Grand Alliance and its governorship candidate, Prof Benard Odoh, challenging the election of Francis Nwifuru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as duly elected governor of the state.
It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Nwifuru of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the March 2023 governorship election in the state.
Meanwhile, unsatisfied with the outcome, Odoh approached the court to overturn the Ebonyi governor’s election for non-qualification.
Odoh had argued through his lawyer, Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, that Nwifuru, “who was until and after the election, a member of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly and also occupied the office of the Speaker of the house under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party was not qualified to contest the election to the seat of Governor of Ebonyi State” while demanding the nullification of Mr Nwifuru’s victory on account of his non-qualification for the election.
However, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, while delivering the judgement, held that the petitioners lacked the locus standi to institute the action, claiming that the issue was an internal affair of the APC.