Arc. Ezekiel Nyaetok, a candidate for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Senator John James Akpan Udoedehe, a candidate for the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), both filed petitions with the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The petitions were rejected by the tribunal for being without merit.
Nyaetok of the ADC requested the disqualification of Pastor Umo Eno, claiming that since he had been found guilty by an Abuja Magistrate Court, all of his votes from the March 18 elections should have been invalidated.
He also challenged other candidates who received more votes than him, claiming that they were prevented from running for office due to legal issues.
However, the magistrate court presided over by Emeka Iyama handed a ruling, nullifying its earlier conviction of Pastor Umo Eno, according to the panel’s chairman, Justice Adekunle Adeleye, who also declared that once a verdict is negated, it ceases to exist.
The tribunal determined that Nyaetok’s petition lacked substance because the petitioner was unable to identify even one voting place where the electoral law was broken during the March 18 governorship election.
Additionally, the NNPP candidate’s plea in suit no. EPW/AKS/GOV/03/23, which complained about suspicions of certificate fabrication, was dismissed because the Supreme Court had subsequently ruled in favour of governor Umo Eno.
In his arguments, the NNPP gubernatorial candidate insisted that Gov. Eno was denied the right to run in the March 18, 2023, governorship election because he had been found guilty by the Wuse Magistrate Court in Abuja.
He requested that the Tribunal order the election to be called off and a new one held within 90 days.
When the Wuse Magistrate Court’s enrolled order repudiating its judgement orders was shown to the NNPP candidate during cross-examination, he stated that he was unaware of its existence and that it was the order that was the subject of his petition.
Pastor Umo Eno and the PDP’s legal team had stated in their response that the NNPP petition is extremely unambitious because the petitioner has not only failed to establish the veracity of the criminal forgery charge, but also failed to specify what he seeks.
Pastor Umo Eno’s attorney, Barr Emmanuel Enoidem, responded to the ruling by claiming that the petitioners had failed to establish that he did not fit the constitutional qualifications for the position of governor. He also pointed out that the majority of their accusations were to pre-election issues that they were unable to substantiate.
