Supreme Court Confirms Siminalayi Fubara as Rivers Governor
In a significant legal pronouncement, the Supreme Court has officially declared Siminalayi Fubara as the duly elected Governor of Rivers State. The challenge to Fubara's victory in the 2023 elections by Patrick Tonye-Cole, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been dismissed by a five-member panel of the Supreme Court.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had initially declared Fubara as the winner of the gubernatorial election. Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, delivering the lead judgment on behalf of the panel, affirmed Fubara's election and simultaneously dismissed Tonye-Cole's appeal, citing its incompetence and lack of merit.
Justice Saulawa emphasized that the appellant failed to substantiate his allegations of over-voting, non-compliance, and the non-qualification of Fubara to contest the election. The Supreme Court deemed the appeal "grossly lacking in merit" and accordingly dismissed it, upholding the concurrent judgments of the lower courts that had previously deemed the appeal lacking in merit.
This verdict from the apex court solidifies Siminalayi Fubara's status as the legitimately elected Governor of Rivers State, bringing an end to the legal challenges surrounding the gubernatorial election.