The Supreme Court recently upheld the April 11, 2015 governorship election which saw Udom Emmanuel to the position of the State Governor.
The seven man panel of Justices of the Apex court in support of the earlier ruling on February 3 said there was no evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the election which saw Governor Udom Emmanuel to power was rigged as neither the All Progressives Congress, APC, nor its gubernatorial candidate in the state, Umana Okon Umana, had tangible proof of the allegation.
To further corroborate the decision of the court, the Supreme Court noted that the APC and it’s candidate, Umana, failed to prove that electorates in the state were disenfranchised polling unit by polling unit. Adding that the mention that there was anarchy in Akwa Ibom state during the election process was wrong as neither the Nigerian Police report nor any of the security agencies that participated in the exercise confirmed such incidents.
The Apex court panel also expressed dissatisfaction at both the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal and the State’s Governorship Election Petition Tribunal for their failure to properly evaluate and assess the evidence and case filed by both parties before them.