Rivers Guber: Wike Reacts To Victory At The Supreme Court

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has reacted to the ruling of the Supreme Court which upheld his victory during the 2019 governorship election.

The three justices panel on Friday upheld Wike’s appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal which reinstated the petition of the candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, Biokpomabo Awara.

Recall that the Governorship Election Tribunal in the state had dismissed the petition of Awara back in October and declared Wike as the winner of the election.

The Supreme Court led by Justice Inyang Okoro in its ruling stated that hearing of an abandoned petition amounted to no other purpose than academic.

The three Justice panel held that hearing such petition was an exercise in futility.

Governor Wike while reacting to the ruling through his counsel, Bar Ferdinand Orbih, SAN, stated that the judgment was landmark pronouncements by the Supreme Court.

“Across all the tribunals in the country, the issue has always been what is the relationship between the power of the tribunal to dismiss the petition that has been abandoned vis a vis the constitutional provision that says that interlocutory matters bothering on jurisdiction must wait until the final judgment.”

“That is the issue that was resolved by the Supreme Court today that when an issue is abandoned you don’t have to wait until the final judgment before the tribunal can pronounce on it that you are dismissing this petition because it has been abandoned,” he said.

Orbih held that the petition filed by the AAC in the state has received its end and is dead forever.