Wike to appeal tribunal judgement; vows to remain in office till appeal is exhausted

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike

In reaction to the verdict of the Rivers state governorship election petition tribunal which nullified the election of Governor Nyesom Wike, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the governor, have stated their resolve to appeal the decision of the election petition tribunal.


The tribunal headed by Justice Suleiman Ambrosa had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a governorship election in the state, citing the failure of the April 11 election to comply with electoral guidelines on accreditation with the use of electronic card readers during the election.

Addressing journalists after the judgement however, counsel to the PDP, Mr Chris Uche, SAN, declared the readiness of his clients to appeal the judgement and that Governor Nyesom Wike will remain in office until the appeal process is exhausted.

The PDP counsel said the nature of the judgement delivered by the Justice Ambrosa-led tribunal makes an appeal both vital and inevitable as the new position adopted by the tribunal must be tested in the interest of justice.

Uche, SAN also stated that the tribunal’s reliance on card reader accreditation to nullify the governorship election when evidence was led by both the respondents and the petitioners that both card reader and manual accreditation were used for the election requires testing at the Court of Appeal.

The learned silk added that it was shocking that in less than 24 hours after lawyers on all sides submitted nine written addresses and documents, the tribunal sent notice that judgement would be delivered on Saturday morning.

Noting that the tribunal was aware that the Supreme Court judgement on the jurisdiction of the tribunal sitting outside of Rivers State would be delivered on Tuesday, Mr Uche, SAN wondered why the tribunal chose to deliver its judgement in less than 2 days when it had 7 days to do so.

Story: Vanguard