Mr. Jeremiah Akpan, the Action Alliance (AA) candidate for governor in the March 18 election in Akwa Ibom, had his plea dismissed by the Governorship Election plea Tribunal sitting in Uyo on Friday.
As Justice Buetnaan Mandy explained on behalf of the other two judges on the panel, the case was thrown out because it did not follow the requirements of the Electoral Act 2022.
Petitioner Akpan went to the tribunal after INEC declined to list him as a potential candidate for the election on its website.
In response to the tribunal’s ruling, INEC’s legal counsel, Dr. Ethelbert Ezeh, said, “Exclusion as it stands now is no longer one of the grounds for election petition in Nigeria by the provision of the Electoral Act 2022.”
But Nkereuwem Akpan, petitioner’s counsel, said, “We will analyze the verdict and advise our client. We intend to file an appeal with the Court of Appeals because we are dissatisfied with the outcome.
“We came to the court because we believe in our judiciary process and our democracy, but justice has not been done today,” the petitioner said in despair. We have a Court Order from the Court of Appeals telling INEC to submit my name, but they haven’t done so yet.
I came here to have the court decide on whether or not I intentionally misled voters during the election, and while I respect the court’s decision, I disagree with it. I plan to go to the Court of Appeals.”
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