The Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal has sacked Nyesom Wike as the Governor of Rivers State.
The tribunal, which delivered its ruling in Abuja on Saturday, also ordered that a fresh governorship election be conducted in the state.
The petition challenging the election of Mr. Wike as Rivers State Governor was filed by Dakuku Peterside, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the election.
The three-member tribunal, presided over by Justice Suleiman Ambursa, gave the orders in its judgment in a petition filed against the election of Wike by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the April 11 election in the state, Dr Dakuku Peterside.
In the judgment, which was read by Ambursa for about three hours, the tribunal held that the petitioners successfully proved their case that the election was conducted in total disregard to electoral guidelines.
Specifically, Ambursa said that the process of accreditation for the election was compromised with the use of incident forms rather than adherence to card reader.
“It is the view of the tribunal that the election was held contrary to guidelines.
“While we agree with the second respondent’s (Wike) position that card reader was just introduced, but the usage of the card reader is to complement voter register.
“The election was in total disregard to guidelines, the issue of accreditation in election cannot be compromised.
“Even, some of the witnesses of the respondents said they were not aware of the use of card reader for the election,’’ he said.
Ambursa said the tribunal also hinged its decision to annul the election on contradictory position by the second and third respondents (Wike and PDP).
According to him, some figures given by the witnesses of Wike contradicted the figures presented in the documents tendered by PDP while defending the case.
Ambursa also said that the tribunal was not impressed with the way the witnesses of the respondents presented themselves during cross examination by the petitioners.
Ambursa said some of the witnesses of the respondents, who had written their evidence and tendered them before the tribunal, claimed that they could not read when they were confronted with INEC results sheets during cross examination.
“We are in agreement with the petitioners that the evidences presented by the respondents were unreliable.
“The respondents on their part were unable to defend the allegations in the petition.
“The petitioners have proved their case as required by the law that the second respondent was not validly elected ,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Counsel to the PDP, Chris Uche, (SAN) has said that the decision of the tribunal was “unacceptable’’ and it would lodge an appeal.
Uche, who spoke to newsmen after the judgment, said by the provision of the law, the decision of the tribunal notwithstanding, the governor would remain in office pending the decision of the appeal court and the Supreme Court on the matter.
On his part, Mr Sikiru Oke, who spoke on behalf of Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi SAN, the lead counsel to APC and Peterside, said the tribunal had done justice by its decision.
The Rivers governorship election, which was criticised by local and international observers, witnessed the largest amount of violence both in its build-up and after the elections. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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This must be a JOKE! Make River people no grew o. Protests! Protests !! Protests!!! all the way. Mzobu Eny
ReplyDeleteOde omo. Carry your family go protest for there.
DeleteAdmin, can you please ban this stup1d el matosky from this site. He's a sick psychopath who enjoys creating and inciting violence and other devilish intentions of his useless heart. Can't you see he enjoys it? Please ban him, please.
DeleteThis must be a JOKE! Make River people no grew o. Protests! Protests !! Protests!!! all the way. Mzobu Enyimba Enyi!
ReplyDeleteAre you not from this planet or u don't know what happened in Rivers state during the election? Now ure calling for war again on the people of Rivers. May God renew your devilish mind.
DeleteKindly lead the protest and stop inciting them on this platform. All the way to Port-Harcourt......
DeleteThe joke is on you.
DeleteDO U LIVE IN RIVERS STATE OR ARE YOU AN INDIGENE. WHY ARE YOU ASKING FOR A PROTEST
DeleteYou dey craze, go and lead the protest naa.
DeleteEL MATORIOUS, you have crawled out of your hole again with the most stupid comments. You better keep your trump shut and not make yourself sound stupid. I am watching you Don Emmanuel
ReplyDeleteWike....finally u lost....i am happy for Rivers ppl....haapy liberation day....ignorants will nt understnd dis
ReplyDeleteThat is it. It took too much time to get this judgment. Let see how Wike will use federal might to intimidate Rivers man
ReplyDeleteAPC is really doing the expected i.e trying to claim all the states in the country. You can imagine what happened in Ogun state but yet the APC candidate was declared winner. Irrespective of the irregularities in election, so far as APC is the winner, there would not be controversy. This is not the kind of government we want in Nigeria
ReplyDeleteI don't think u knw wat u saying, do u wanna compare wat happen in Ogun wit Rivers. Guy go sleep and see Wike parking his load. Idiot!!!
DeleteWe have been waiting for this judgement because both local and international observers have condem the election in totality.
ReplyDeleteDE SAINT
ReplyDeleteHmmmm...I need to read the facts before making further comment. But protest as a first option seems ill advised eh?
DE SAINT
Change I can see,judiciary d last hope of the common man.
ReplyDeleteChange I can see,judiciary d last hope of the common man.
ReplyDeleteIf the election was not canceled people would have doubted the integrity of the tribunal. If Woke appeals he will lose. If there is a re- run of election he will lose. He is a loser.
ReplyDelete@matosky u better wake up to rality
ReplyDelete@matosky u better wake up to reality
ReplyDeleteIt is easy saying "Make River people no grew o."
ReplyDeleteGo and lead the protest u are calling for if u are lover of the River people.
Whatever is through crooked way can never last. Mr. Wike must wake up and leave peacefully. Else, he will be smoked out.
What do u call Crook I hope u Know dat GMB is de only General in niga who wrote WAEC without a result He pass Election with Children Vote....
Delete2million Registered in Kano and Borno and all Voted for BUHARI SO its only PDP state dat de Tribunal can reverse .... I hope u know dat ur APC is taking Nigeria to One Party State ds is not democracy ...Most of de Violence in RS was de handwork of Amaechi and APC to frustrate de election result but bcos he has a Godfather at de top His own part of de evil is covered and u ar dere celebrating dem...FUTURE Will Tell
Good riddance to bad rubbish, wike have finally fall into the pit he was dogging for Ameachi. You see how funny life could be!!!
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm... Details yet to be made public. But calling for a protest seems out of place eh?
ReplyDeleteVery good news Nigerianeye, he didn't know there's God he start fighting with amaechi good news, kirikiri is waiting for you, to hell with PDP and there supporters nonsense
ReplyDeleteJubilation or protest? We are happy El Matosky. As you can see Mzobu Eny is for Igbo states. We are Rivers, never BIAFRA
ReplyDeleteSee ur life..... Sabo
DeleteThe tribunal made its decision based on the available and verifiable evidence. Protest is not the answer to keep Wike in power. Wike must vacate the position immediately.
ReplyDeleteINEC should now commence a fresh election in Rivers state.
El matosky or watin u call itself. Come out and lead the protest. So we can take u serious.
ReplyDeleteWike,
ReplyDeleteYou would have allowed Ameachi to become minister peacefully. See the result now, this is called Soccer Punch in football. LMFAO
Rivers election was an embarrassment to Nigerians as a people. Thank God we are rewriting the wrongs.
ReplyDeleteThe APC has bought over the courts. The APC does not want rivers or any of the rich states to remain PDP controlled bc wealth from here can make them uncomfortable. The dictatorship has started and may grow into a civil strife if care is not taken. I am also confident that if the appeals court which now will have less than two weeks to decide its own judgement, is not pressured by the devilish APC, justice will will return to Wike but if the worst comes, PDP will still win the race
ReplyDeleteIn fact APC as party are not peaceful, please allow people to rest and let people think ahead, u party are making life miserable for other states which are under PDP. PAC cheated a lot to won many state, just like Imo State. Please let us be
ReplyDeleteTogether we stand, divided we fall!! Wike must stay, lets all protest!!!! ........
DeleteNna it is clear that English is not your first language. Consider commenting in Igbo next time. - Obas
DeleteAny body wey no like d verdict shud diiiiiiieeeeeeeee
ReplyDeleteIf all the morons in this forum don't like the verdict let them go and hug transformer
DeleteYes. The violence in Rivers was out of this world. They even stabbed channels TV journalist for filming them and damaged his camera. Mama piss relocated to PH during the election to supervise. Let us see how many soldiers they will use to itimidate voters now. Idiots.
DeleteEl-Motosky, U are sounding like a broken record. Remain Taraba and other South eastern State.
ReplyDeleteI predicted that Wike's days were numbered in my comments in NE. What happened in Rivers was not an election but robbery. We all as videos of STARK illiterates thumbing many ballots. PDP haba!
ReplyDeleteAmbursa also said that the tribunal was not impressed with the way the witnesses of the respondents presented themselves during cross examination by the petitioners.
ReplyDeleteAmbursa said some of the witnesses of the respondents, who had written their evidence and tendered them before the tribunal, claimed that they could not read when they were confronted with INEC results sheets during cross examination.
ROFLMAO
Very funny, but the figure for presidential election was accepted coz it favoured APC. Niaja politics
ReplyDeleteJust a thought though... If there wasn't election in rivers state then why is this verdict not affecting the senators who were also voted the same day? Is there a separate tribunal on going to determine that on a separate ground?
ReplyDeleteThis is unacceptable. THIS SHOWS HOW WICKED THE APC GOVERNEMENT WILL BE
ReplyDeleteif the election in Rivers was nullified base on not using the card riders then all the election in the North should be cancelled because the card reader was not used in the North at all. it is becoming clear by day what APC is doing they desparatly want to take Rivers cos Rivers fund were used to finance their election. if the election is conducted 20 times Wike will still win
ReplyDeleteGood observation bro.same cars reader issue noticed in Lagos,North,same card reader was challenged by Agbaje PDP in Lagos and was not Accepted as issue but same is now bin used a tool to cancel rivers election,Oga o
DeleteHmmmmm,is dere an election in Rivers?if yes,den all d Senate election should be nullified too cos the two elections were held same day,same time,same venue, so why
ReplyDeleteVictory all the way for APC....
ReplyDelete