Tribunal Passes Judgement In LP’s Petition Challenging Fubara’s Victory

The Rivers State Governorship Election petition, which convened in Abuja on Monday, dismissed the petition submitted by Beatrice Itubo, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Rivers State.

Naija News reports that Itubo had challenged the declaration of Simnalayi Fubara from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the March 18 governorship election.

After Fubara was declared the winner of the poll, both the Labour Party (LP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), along with their respective candidates, filed a petition before the tribunal.

Fubara received 302,614 votes, defeating his closest rival Tonye Cole from the APC, who scored 95,274 votes. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Senator Magnus Abe, and Itubo came in third and fourth place, respectively, with 46,981 and 22,224 votes.

On September 13, the tribunal reserved judgment on the petition filed by Cole, who sought to nullify Fubara’s victory.

The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Cletus Emifonye, adjourned the case for judgment after the parties presented their final written addresses and arguments for and against the petition.

However, in its ruling on Monday, the Justice Emifonye-led tribunal dismissed the LP’s petition, citing a lack of merit and failure to substantiate their allegations.