The Court of Appeal in Abuja has annulled the gubernatorial election held in Akwa Ibom State won by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Emmauel Udom.
Justice Adedotun Adefope, the lead judge of the appeal court in Abuja gave the verdict on Friday.
Adefope lead the five-man panel to order a fresh election in Akwa Ibom, hinging the decision on ‘substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act.’
The judgement came nearly two months after the Akwa Ibom Governorship Election Petition Tribunal nullified elections in 18 local governments and ordered a re-run.
After the Tribunal judgement delivered by Justice Sadiq Umar, on 21st October, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate in the April 11 governorship election in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Umana Umana, filed an appeal at the appellate court in Abuja, challenging the judgment of the Tribunal.
The APC and Umana faulted the Tribunal’s judgment on grounds of ‘miscarriage of justice and turning upside down, the head of the natural justice’.
The two appellants asked the appellate court to set aside the judgment of the Tribunal in relation to the validation of election results in 13 local government areas of the state.
According to them, by the annulment of elections in 18 out of 31 local government areas, Section 179(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution, which required that a candidate vying for the office of the Governor would be declared winner if he gets not less than one quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of the local government areas, has been breached.
They rejected the Tribunal decision, saying the election of Governor Udom of the PDP in its entirety did not meet the mandatory number needed to retain his seat.
