On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma’s reelection in the governorship race scheduled for November 11, 2023. In a majority ruling written by Justice Mohammed Idris, a five-member panel of the court rejected the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) and Samuel Anyanwu’s appeal as being without merit. The PDP filed the appeal in the Imo governorship race.
Justice Idris resolved all the issues raised for determination in the appeal against the appellants.
Justice Idris equally dismissed the appeal by the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Athan Achonu, for being unmeritorious.
The judge, who authored and read the lead judgment, resolved the three issues identified for determination against the appellants.
He found that the appellants, as petitioners at the election tribunal, failed to prove their case as required.
He proceeded to affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the decision of the Imo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which dismissed the appellants’ petition.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Court of Appeal, Abuja, had, on 16 July, dismissed the appeal filed by the PDP and Mr Anyanwu, challenging the decision of the Imo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which affirmed the election of Governor Uzodinma.
The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Bitrus Sanga, held that the appeal lacked merit, having resolved all issues formulated against the appellants in the suit.
The Court of Appeal also dismissed the appeal by the LP and its candidate, Mr Achonu, and that of the Allied Peoples Movement for also lacking in merit.
NAN reports that the appellants, who were dissatisfied with the election tribunal judgment, had approached the Court of Appeal on grounds that the 11 November 2023 election, was invalid because of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act. The appellants also challenged Mr Uzodimma’s qualification with an allegation that his West African Examination Certificate result was forged.
While delivering that judgment, the Court of Appeal held that the appellants failed to prove the allegation of non-compliance as alleged.
The panel also held that the appellants failed to prove that the governor submitted a forged certificate.