The Rivers State Governorship Election petition held in Abuja has rejected the petition submitted by Beatrice Itubo, the Labour Party’s gubernatorial candidate in Rivers State. She had contested the victory of Simnalayi Fubara from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
After Siminalayi Fubara was declared the winner of the Rivers State governorship election on March 18, the Labour Party (LP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), along with their respective candidates, filed a petition with the election tribunal.
Fubara won with 302,614 votes, defeating his closest rival, Tonye Cole of the APC, who received 95,274 votes. Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Beatrice Itubo of the LP came in third and fourth place, respectively, with 46,981 and 22,224 votes.
On September 13, the tribunal held off on delivering a verdict for the petition filed by Cole, which aimed to invalidate Fubara’s win.
The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Cletus Emifonye, postponed the decision for judgment after both parties concluded their final written submissions and made their arguments in support of, or against, the petition.
In a ruling on the LP’s petition this Monday, the tribunal headed by Justice Emifonye dismissed the petition, citing a lack of merit and failure to substantiate their allegations.