Court cancels appeal of Governor Eno’s victory

The Lagos Court of Appeal on Friday ruled against Akwa Ibom’s Young Progressives Party (YPP) gubernatorial candidate, Senator Bassey Akpan, and his counterparts, All Progressives Congress (APC) senators Akanimo Udofia and John Aku. The appeal filed by Senator Panuduedehe was dismissed. respectively the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP);

The three gubernatorial candidates and their political parties were challenging the victory of Governor Umo Eno of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 gubernatorial election.

In a separate ruling, the court said the appeal was without merit.

The appellants had prayed to the court to invalidate the election on suspicion of forged certificates, but the case was later decided in Governor Eno’s favor by the Supreme Court.

However, the Court of Appeal ruled that the judgment on the certificate issue was not binding on the appellants because they were not parties to the litigation.

The judgment found that the appellants had abused the judicial process in relitigating a matter that had been decided in favor of the second defendant, Pastor Umo Eno Bassey, in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. denounced.

Further ruling on the appeal by the YPP gubernatorial candidate, the Court of Appeal also faulted the appellants’ inability to call witnesses who were voting agents to prove the fact of election fraud.

The court found that Bassey Albert and his party relied solely on documentary evidence that amounted to hearsay to allege fraud and made no effort to bring in those who witnessed and participated in the election at the polling stations. I expressed my opinion.

Regarding the local government collator whose YPP candidates were paraded in front of the court, the court said: “The evidence presented by Bassey Albert’s witnesses amounted to a script for a drama to entertain the audience, and could have influenced the election.” “It can be said that it was not a serious remark.” The appearance of the governor. ”

The court held that the burden of proof on the allegation that the second defendant’s name was not the same as the name on the 1981 and 1983 WAEC certificates was on the appellant and they were unable to establish proof. was lowered.

The Court of Appeal also overruled a preliminary objection by Bassey Albert’s lawyer, Tunde Falola, and ruled that the brief submitted by the defendants did not violate the Court of Appeal’s practice policy.

Source: dailypost.ng