Court dismisses Tonye Cole’s challenge to Fubara’s victory after APC’s withdrawal

The Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has dismissed Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenge against Siminalayi Fubara’s of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) election as governor of the oil-rich state.

The tribunal’s decision to dismiss Cole’s petition was primarily based on the withdrawal of the petition by the APC, the political party that had sponsored Cole’s candidature.

This development comes after the tribunal had previously dismissed similar petitions lodged by Beatrice Itubo, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Rivers State, and Innocent Ekwu, who represented the Allied People’s Movement (APM). Both of these petitions were deemed to lack merit by the tribunal.

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One of the key reasons for the dismissal of Ekwu’s petition was his lack of locus standi, as he had not contested the Rivers State Governorship election.

Earlier, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Siminalayi Fubara of the PDP as the winner of the March 18 governorship election in Rivers State.

Fubara secured 302,614 votes, outperforming his closest rival, Tonye Cole of the APC, who garnered 95,274 votes. Senator Magnus Abe, the candidate from the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Beatrice Itubo trailed behind with 46,981 and 22,224 votes, respectively.

Notably dissatisfied with the election results that declared Fubara the victor, the Labour Party (LP), the APC, and Innocent Ekwu all filed petitions before the tribunal, contesting the election outcome.

However, with this latest dismissal of Tonye Cole’s petition, the path seems clearer for Governor Fubara to continue his mandate as the leader of Rivers State.