Nyesom Wike, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Rivers state governorship election, will remain governor of the state, after the supreme court upturned the judgement of both the election petitions tribunal and the appeal court nullifying his victory at the April 11, 2015 poll. In October 2015, the Rivers state governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja nullified Wike’s election, and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh poll.
On behalf of the three-man panel, Suleiman Ambursa, the chairman, said Wike was not duly elected governor of Rivers state, adding that the election was flawed based on evidence presented to it. The tribunal held that the testimonies of Wike’s witnesses were weak, and as such could not prove the governor’s case beyond reasonable doubt. It also held that Wike’s witnesses made contradictory statements, further complicating the defendant’s case. It dismissed the governor’s petition over the power of the tribunal to entertain the case.
Wike appealed the judgement, but he lost again two months later, when the appeal court unanimously dismissed all the seven issues he raised, and upheld the decision of the tribunal on the conduct of a fresh governorship election be held. He had asked the appellate court to set aside the judgment of the tribunal, arguing that the lower court failed to consider the evidence – that a proper election took place in Rivers state on April 11 – tendered before it.
On Wednesday when the supreme court sat over the case, Wike emerged winner for the first – important – time. In a lead judgment by Justice Kekere-Ekun, the court unanimously validated his election on the grounds that he won with the lawfully valid votes. However, the panel, led by Justice Mahmoud Mohammed, chief justice of Nigeria, did not explain the reasons for its judgment. Instead, it said they would be given on February 12.
