The Ebonyi State Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja will deliver its judgement on Wednesday, 27th September, 2023.
Tribunal Secretary, Henry Nwior, affirmed this to newsmen on Tuesday, stating that proceedings will commence at 9 a.m.
The Tribunal is set to adjudicate on two petitions contesting the election of Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State.
Governor Nwifuru was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which took place on March 18.
Nwifuru garnered a total of 199,131 votes across the state’s 13 Local Government Areas, surpassing his closest contender, Dr. Chukwuma Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured 80,191 votes.
The electoral commission subsequently awarded Nwifuru a Certificate of Return as the Governor-elect, and he was inaugurated as Governor on May 29, 2023.
However, Odii, along with his party, the PDP, and the second runner-up, Bernard Odoh, and his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), contested the outcome and brought the matter to the tribunal.
Odoh, in his petition, seeks Nwifuru’s disqualification based on allegations of certificate forgery and his supposed ineligibility to run in the election.
He petitioned the tribunal to disqualify Mr. Nwifuru, who was declared the victor of the aforementioned election, and also to invalidate the Certificate of Return issued to him.
Professor Odoh, an expert in geophysics, asserts that Nwifuru, at the time of the election, was still a member of the PDP, rendering him ineligible to be endorsed by the APC for the election.
He contends that Nwifuru, therefore, lacked the qualifications to vie for the position of Governor of Ebonyi State, as he held membership in two political parties, which he argues is unconstitutional.
Furthermore, he alleges that Nwifuru submitted fraudulent credentials to INEC. Mr. Odoh consequently implored the Tribunal to annul the aforementioned election for the office of Governor of Ebonyi State, held on March 18, 2023.
He also implored the Tribunal to mandate a re-run election in line with section 179(3) and (4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, for the position of the Governor of Ebonyi State.
Mr. Odoh further urged the Tribunal to proclaim that this fresh election should involve the two candidates who garnered the highest number of votes during the election on March 18, 2023.
The APGA candidate also beseeched the court to issue an Order nullifying and/or revoking the Certificate of Return issued to Mr. Nwifuru by the INEC.
In the second petition, the PDP and its candidate, Mr. Odii, urged the Tribunal to instruct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to revoke the certificate of return issued to the Governor.
They further requested the Tribunal to declare Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii as the rightful winner of the election and duly install him as the elected Governor of Ebonyi State from the governorship election held on March 18.
The Petitioners contended that Mr. Nwifuru was ineligible to participate in the election under the APC banner, as he remained a legitimate member of the People’s Democratic Party without having officially defected to any other political party, including the APC.
They further asserted that Mr. Nwifuru, having been a serving lawmaker elected under the banner of the PDP to the State House of Assembly, and not having officially defected on the House floor as stipulated by law, could not have contested the election under a different party outside the PDP.
The PDP urged the Tribunal to affirm that Mr. Nwifuru was ineligible to run for the 2023 governorship election as an APC candidate, as he remained a member of the PDP and was never endorsed by the party for any election in the recently concluded 2023 general polls.
The Petitioners also referred to an existing judgment by Justice Henry Njoku of the Ebonyi State High Court, which determined that Mr. Nwifuru and other members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly who claimed to have defected to the APC were still affiliated with the PDP.
The petitioners additionally raised allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act of 2022 by the Independent National Electoral Commission, along with electoral irregularities and various other transgressions.
In response, Nwifuru requested the court to reject the lawsuits, deeming them lacking in merit.