Tribunal reserves judgement in Tonye Cole’s suit over the Rivers governorship election

The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for governor of Rivers on March 18 filed a petition, which was heard by the Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday in Abuja.

Governor Siminalayi Fubara of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is contesting Cole’s victory.

After the parties adopted their final written addresses and presented their arguments in favour of and against the petition, the three-member tribunal, presided over by Justice Cletus Emifonye, adjourned the case for judgement.

Fubara won the election with 302,614 votes, followed by the APC candidate with 95,274 votes and Labour Party (LP) candidate Beatrice Itubo with 22,224 votes.

Chief Tuduru Ede, SAN, the primary attorney for Cole, told reporters shortly after the sitting on Wednesday that approximately 40 witnesses were called and exhibits totaling more than a thousand were offered.

The second respondent (Fubara), as of the election, was not eligible to run, which is the key tenet of our argument.

“He didn’t resign from his position as Rivers State’s Permanent Secretary and Accountant-General.

He stated, “We brought evidence to that effect, and we await the tribunal’s decision.

Mr. Cole, who was present in the tribunal and spoke as well, said he trusted both the judiciary and God to handle his petition’s fairness.

“First of all, I want to express my gratitude to the legal team for maintaining their composure, refusing to be intimidated, and presenting very truthful information.

“What has been provided tonight as our last address has my full approval.

In addition, he remarked, “I am trusting the tribunal and my Lord, God Almighty, that justice will be served.”

He claimed he was present in the tribunal to make sure he regained the mandate that had been taken from him.

“We are absolutely certain of what took place on election day, but that is not at all similar to what we are doing in court.

I simply want to reassure everyone in Rivers that we will do everything in our ability to see that justice is served. “What we are here to do in court is to guarantee that we secure the mandate that was stripped off us in March.

“We have made our case, and now we are just awaiting the outcome. There will be a verdict in a few weeks. So let’s be persistent and unwavering. To the very end, we are battling this, he declared.

However, Mr. Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), who was present at the event, declined to talk to reporters.

He only said, “Go talk to them,” referring to the solicitors.

Speaking with the respondents’ attorneys, Mr. Kanu Agabi, SAN (INEC), and Mr. Emmanuel Ukala, SAN (Fubara), was also attempted, but they both declined to do so, and Mr. Joseph Daudu, PDP, could not be located.

According to OBASANJO NEWS24, although Tonye Cole is the petitioner, INEC, Fubara, and PDP are the case’s first through third respondents, respectively.

On September 7, the tribunal had also deferred making a decision in the petition brought by the Labour Party’s candidate for governor challenging Fubara’s victory.