Tribunal upholds Nwifuru’s election as governor of Ebonyi

The Ebonyi governorship election petitions tribunal has affirmed Francis Nwifuru as the duly elected governor of the state.

Nwifuru, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), polled 199, 131 votes to defeat Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who secured 80, 191 votes.

Bernard Odoh, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), came a distant third with 52, 189 votes.

Dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, Odoh and APGA filed the petition marked: EPT/EB/GOV/01/2023 against the Independent  National Electoral Commission (INEC), Francis Nwifuru and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

They contended that Nwifuru was illegally nominated by the APC because he was still a member of the (PDP) as the speaker of the Ebonyi house of assembly at the time of his nomination as his party’s flagbearer.

Delivering judgement on Wednesday, the tribunal dismissed the petition filed by Odoh and APGA on the ground that they lacked locus standi to challenge Nwifuru’s electoral victory.

The three-member panel led by Lekan Ogunmoye held that the issue raised by the petitioners was an internal affair of the APC.

The tribunal also held that APGA failed to appeal a federal high court judgement which confirmed the Nwifuru’s defection from PDP to APC.