The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of the governors of Abia and Akwa Ibom states while delivering two separate judgments.

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The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of the governors of Abia and Akwa Ibom states while delivering two separate judgments.

 

The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of the governors of Abia and Akwa Ibom states while delivering two separate judgments.
Both decisions were arrived at yesterday by a panel of seven justices of the apex court, which upheld the appeals filed by the Peoples Democratic Party in respect of the governorship election disputes in Abia and Akwa Ibom.The Supreme Court dismissed the various judgments delivered by the Courts of Appeal in Owerri and Abuja, which had nullified the elections of Governor IKPEAZU and Governor UDOM.Our correspondent reports that the Supreme Court justices considered eight sets of appeals arising from the Akwa Ibom State governorship election dispute before giving their ruling.The appellants were the Peoples Democratic Party, the All Progressives Congress, the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Nigeria Police Force, who were joined in the matter.Each of four appellants filed two appeals in response to the two set of judgments that was delivered by the Court of Appeal.One set of appeals dealt with the Appellate Court decision nullifying the governorship election results in eighteen local governments of Akwa Ibom.The second set of four appeals answered to the Appeal Court judgment that canceled the entirety of the governorship election across the state and ordered a re-run.But in a lead judgment read by Justice J.S.C. NWEZE, the Supreme Court panel upheld the appeals by the PDP and INEC, and reserved 15th of February to give reasons for its decision.In a brief summary after the prolonged adoption of briefs, the Supreme Court found that judgment of the lower court was fraught with errors, which it described as fallacies of generalization.The Justices declared the appeal is meritorious and the election of Governor EMMANUEL UDOM is affirmed.In the case of the Abia State governorship election dispute; the panel of Supreme Court Justices held that the appeals by Governor OKEZIE IKPEAZU and his party; the PDP, have merit and upheld, thereby affirming the election of the governor.The lead judgment was read by Justice GALADIMA SULEIMAN, who also reserved the 26th of February for the Apex Court to give reasons how it arrived at the decision.Our Abuja correspondent, JAMES IGAH who waited for the final judgment until past 10PM last night, reports that both judgments were greeted with wild jubilation by PDP supporters who kept watch at the Supreme Court all day.Meanwhile; before the final judgment was reached in the Abia State governorship election dispute, a cross appeal filed by the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, ALEX OTTI, was dismissed by the Supreme Court to avoid waste of time because it was not tied to any of the main appeals.Some lawyers, including ONYECHI IKPEAZU and AKIN OLUJIMI - both Senior Advocates of Nigeria - who fought the legal battle on the opposing sides, had some comments about the judgments.You will recall that the Owerri Division of the Court of Appeal had on 31st of December delivered a judgment nullifying the election of Governor OKEZIE IKPEAZU of Abia State and declare ALEX OTTI as the rightful winner of the 2015 election.Governor IKPEAZU received the news of the Supreme Court judgment at the Abia State Government Lodge in Abuja in the company of some of his senior officials and PDP chieftains.His Akwa Ibom State counterpart, Governor EMMANUEL UDOM has delivered a state broadcast, thanking his supporters and calling on the opposition to join hands to move the state forward.

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