Court Of Appeal Affirms Fubara As Rivers Governor, Dismisses Cole’s Petition

The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos State has affirmed Siminalayi Fubara of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the Governor of Rivers State.

This comes after the Appeal Court dismissed the petition filed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Patrick Tonye-Cole.

Cole had challenged Fubara and his declaration as the winner in the governorship election held in the state in March 2023 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The APC candidate, who was present in the courtroom on Tuesday, wanted the court to direct INEC to declare him the winner of the March governorship election in Rivers.

The Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had in October dismissed the petition of Cole challenging the election of Fubara as the governor of the state.

The tribunal had dismissed the petition saying that the APC that sponsored Cole had withdrawn the petition against Fubara’s victory.

Not satisfied with the Tribunal’s victory, the APC candidate approached the appellate court.

However, the court on Tuesday affirmed the Tribunal ruling which earlier upheld Fubara’s electoral victory in October.