UDOM WINS AT TRIBUNAL

Akwa Ibom State governorship election tribunal sitting at the High Court of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja has struck out a petition by the candidate of the Labour Party, Senator Helen Esuene, seeking to nullify the election of Governor of the state, Udom Emmanuel.
Trial judge, Justice A. S. Umar, at the weekend in his ruling struck out the petition of the Akwa Ibom State Labour Party candidate and held that the petition was incompetent.
Mr. Paul Usoro, counsel to the Akwa Ibom State governor, had challenged the competence the Labour candidate petition on grounds that Exhibit A, the purported Certified True Copy of the signature page of the petition, attached to the petitioners’ counter affidavit to the motion was not a
certified true copy having failed to satisfy the requirements of Section 104 and 105 of the Evidence Act.
The judges unanimously agreed with counsel to Mr Emmanuel on all the grounds and therefore struck out the petition on grounds of incompetence.
Usoro, who commended the tribunal for the quick dispensation of justice and assured that Emmanuel would triumph in the cases brought against him by those, who had lost the election in Akwa Ibom State, saying the will of the people, who had freely voted him, would be upheld.
1. Tribunal rules that the petitioners were unable to demonstrate that card reader alone can be relied upon for accreditation throughout the state. The use of card reader cannot be used contrary to the express provision of the law as conferred on INEC.

2. Tribunal rules that INEC press release cannot override section 41 of the Electoral Act on accreditation. The card reader was not contemplated by section 49 of the Act on accreditation.

3. Tribunal holds that it was satisfied that election held in all the polling units in the state. It further holds that the election substantially complied with the provisions of the law and therefore resolves that the 1st respondent scored the highest number of valid votes cast.