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Tony John, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal, sitting in Port Harcourt, has dismissed the petition filed by Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) candidate, Clifford Edanuko, against the election of Governor Nyesom Wike.
Ruling on a motion, filed by the petitioner yesterday, tribunal chairman, Justice J. A. Orjiako, dismissed the petition and confirmed Governor Wike as the duly re-elected governor of Rivers State.
Orjiako also aligned himself with the counsel of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), Governor Wike, Okey Wali (SAN) and PDP, Ken Njamanze (SAN), on the issue of withdrawal.
The tribunal ruled that the petition number EPT/RS/GOV/O5/2015 stands dismissed, following the motion on notice filed by the petitioner on July 23, 2019 for the discontinuation of the matter.
Moving the motion for discontinuance, counsel for the petitioner, Paul MasiChi, said he had instruction of the petitioner to withdraw the petition.
In an affidavit filed before the tribunal, MasiChi said the petitioner withdrew the petition so that governance would flow without any distraction in the state: “We are all Rivers people. The petitioner is a Rivers man. He has looked at it and said let’s give peace a chance. The peace we are enjoying in Rivers State today is what everyone is happy about. It will not serve the interest of the state to continue this legal tussle.”
Wike’s counsel, Wali , said it was gracious of the petitioner to withdraw the petition because his political party (PPP) was interested in the political stability of the state.
In an interview, INEC counsel, Mustapha, said all parties were in court to adopt their written addresses, when the petitioner announced his withdrawal of the petition.
He said INEC did not oppose the withdrawal of the petition because it was in line with its submission to the tribunal. He said the tribunal was right to have dismissed the petition.
PDP counsel, Njamanze, said he believed wise counsel prevailed: “We, as respondents, did not oppose that application and we believe it is a good development. It is good for the people of Rivers State to move forward peacefully.”
The PPP had asked the tribunal to nullify the March 9, governorship election in Rivers, on the allegation that it was unlawfully excluded from the poll by INEC.
With the dismissal of the PPP’s petition, only the petition filed by Victor Fingesi of Action Democratic Party (ADP) is yet to be determined by the tribunal.
INEC declared Governor Wike re-elected after he polled 886,264 votes, while his closest, challenger, Biokpomabo Awara of the African Action Congress (AAC), , scored 173,859 votes.
Meanwhile, Governor Wike has queried the Rivers State University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Blessing Didia, over reports of shooting within the school’s campus.
The governor also queried the vice chancellor over recent rampant complaints of ‘sorting’ within the university system.
His Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, in a statement, yesterday, said the governor directed the vice chancellor to respond to the query in writing within 24 hours.
