A Supreme Court has restored a judgement earlier delivered by a Federal High Court in favour of Governor Godswill Akpabio, confirming him as the governor of Akwa Ibom State.
Akapbio was taken to the High Court in 2011 by Frank Okon, challenging his election as governor, but the lower court ruled in favour of Akpabio.
Okon, not satisfied with the judgement, headed to the Appeal Court, seeking the nullification of Akpabio’s election because he (Okon) and his supporters were not informed about the rescheduled primaries after the cancellation of the previous exercise.
The Appeal Court ruled in his (Okon) favour, but Akpabio challenged the ruling at the Supreme Court.
Delivering the judgement on Friday, Justice Bode-Rhodes Vivour, on behalf of seven other Justices, unanimously declared that Okon was not qualified to contest the outcome of the election in the first place, having admitted in his affidavit before the court that he and his supporters were not allowed to participate in the primaries.
The Supreme Court the declared Akpabio as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the governorship election in 2011, and also the validly-elected governor of Akwa Ibom State.
