Yemi Adebowale
The Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out an appeal by the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike challenging the ruling of the Rivers State Election Petitions Tribunal on his election as governor.
Wike had objected that the court lacked merit to relocate the case to Abuja. But in its ruling, the supreme court upheld the right of the court to relocate the case to a tribunal sitting in Abuja following the absence of a chief judge as at that time.
The court said the case was relocated by the president of the law court to Abuja basically due to security issues prevailing in Rivers State.
This the court said was to save guard the lives of the chairman of INEC and many others involved in the case.
It said therefore that the tribunal as objected was rightly constituted. It also added that the president of the court of appeal had a duty to ensure the safety of the court of tribunal by directing them to sit in Abuja to enable the tribunal discharge their duty.
All five judges of the Supreme Court agreed with the judgement.
A tribunal in Abuja had on Saturday, October 2 ruled against the election in Rivers State that saw Wike emerge as governor.
Wike following the tribunal ruling stated that he remained in charge of Rivers State, he also vowed to appeal the court’s ruling.
The APC alongside its gubernatorial candidate, had challenged the declaration of Governor Wike by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the Rivers State governorship poll in the April 11 gubernatorial election.
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