By Ola ‘Kiya, Reporting
A Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos State has dismissed the petition filed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Patrick Tonye-Cole, against Governor Siminalayi Fubara of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The APC candidate was present in the courtroom on Tuesday, and had wanted the court to direct INEC to declare him the winner of the March 18 governorship election in Rivers.
Recall that the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had, in October, dismissed the petition of Cole challenging the election of Fubara as the governor of the state.
The tribunal had dismissed the petition on the grounds that the APC that sponsored Cole had withdrawn the petition against Fubara’s victory.
However, not satisfied with the Tribunal’s verdict, the APC candidate approached the appellate court.
Contrary to his wish, the court, on Tuesday, reaffirmed the Tribunal ruling which had earlier upheld Fubara’s electoral victory in October.
The Court of Appeal, earlier on Tuesday too, dismissed the appeal filed by candidates of the Labour Party (LP) and the APM for lacking merit.
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