By Dave Uka
Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State has expressed profound joy at the judgement of the election petitions tribunal that affirmed his victory in the March 2023 governorship elections
The governor while speaking with journalists in Abakaliki while reacting to the victory hailed the judgement and expressed gratitude to God and the people of Ebonyi State for their unwavering support and faith to his administration.
The Governor who also commended the judiciary for being the last hope of the common man called on his challengers to drop further litigations and join hands with him to develop Ebonyi State.
He said he was overwhelmingly elected by the people of the State and was optimistic no amount of litigations would thwart the will of the people.
"I had approached my dear brothers who contested with me not to challenge the decision of the people after they spoke very loudly in the March 18 election which they turned down. Today the Tribunal has dismissed all the grounds they raised ."
" I joined APC on the 9th of November, 2020 and PDP took me to court, Justice Ekwo gave judgement in their favor and they celebrated it. Based on the provisions of the law we appealed the judgement and sought stay of execution which the court didn't grant until the case was withdrawn".
"The electoral act also makes it clear that once you contest primaries in a political party and the party sends your name to INEC, and you are sponsored by that party you automatically become a member of that party."
On whether he properly resigned from PDP, the Governor said he followed due process by handing over his resignation letter to the ward chairman of PDP.
"Votes and proceedings of the House and my resignation letter indicated clearly that I have left the party, yet they went to court and said I didn't resign. Unfortunately a senior lawyer went and Forged a document and presented to the court that I did not resign. I was in the court when a senior lawyer said my resignation letter was not signed , I want the Nigeria Bar Association and Body of Benchers to review the character of that lawyer who went and Forged documents and presented to the court".
Recall that the Ebonyi State Governorship elections petition tribunal sitting in Abuja had on Wednesday upheld the victory of governor Francis Nwifuru as validly elected in the March 18 Governorship election.
The tribunal struck out the petitions of the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Professor Benard Odoh and that of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Ifeanyi Odii, for lacking in merit.
Professor Odoh and Dr Odii had argued that Governor Nwifuru was not validly nominated by the All Progressives Congress, but the three-man panel disagreed with the petitioners, ruling that the issues of qualifications and nomination of candidates for elections were pre-election matters which the tribunal had no jurisdiction to entertain.
Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State has expressed profound joy at the judgement of the election petitions tribunal that affirmed his victory in the March 2023 governorship elections
The governor while speaking with journalists in Abakaliki while reacting to the victory hailed the judgement and expressed gratitude to God and the people of Ebonyi State for their unwavering support and faith to his administration.
The Governor who also commended the judiciary for being the last hope of the common man called on his challengers to drop further litigations and join hands with him to develop Ebonyi State.
He said he was overwhelmingly elected by the people of the State and was optimistic no amount of litigations would thwart the will of the people.
"I had approached my dear brothers who contested with me not to challenge the decision of the people after they spoke very loudly in the March 18 election which they turned down. Today the Tribunal has dismissed all the grounds they raised ."
" I joined APC on the 9th of November, 2020 and PDP took me to court, Justice Ekwo gave judgement in their favor and they celebrated it. Based on the provisions of the law we appealed the judgement and sought stay of execution which the court didn't grant until the case was withdrawn".
"The electoral act also makes it clear that once you contest primaries in a political party and the party sends your name to INEC, and you are sponsored by that party you automatically become a member of that party."
On whether he properly resigned from PDP, the Governor said he followed due process by handing over his resignation letter to the ward chairman of PDP.
"Votes and proceedings of the House and my resignation letter indicated clearly that I have left the party, yet they went to court and said I didn't resign. Unfortunately a senior lawyer went and Forged a document and presented to the court that I did not resign. I was in the court when a senior lawyer said my resignation letter was not signed , I want the Nigeria Bar Association and Body of Benchers to review the character of that lawyer who went and Forged documents and presented to the court".
Recall that the Ebonyi State Governorship elections petition tribunal sitting in Abuja had on Wednesday upheld the victory of governor Francis Nwifuru as validly elected in the March 18 Governorship election.
The tribunal struck out the petitions of the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Professor Benard Odoh and that of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Ifeanyi Odii, for lacking in merit.
Professor Odoh and Dr Odii had argued that Governor Nwifuru was not validly nominated by the All Progressives Congress, but the three-man panel disagreed with the petitioners, ruling that the issues of qualifications and nomination of candidates for elections were pre-election matters which the tribunal had no jurisdiction to entertain.
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