Appeal Court to APC candidate: Akpabio remains senator

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday upheld the election of‎ former Governor Godswill Akpabio as the winner of ‎Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial district‎.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Chief Inibehe Okori, had approached the court to declare him winner of the March 28 election, following his loss at the Election Petitions Tribunal.
To the court, the appeal was lacking in merit.
In determining the three issues that were raised, the Justice Moshood Oredola-led three man panel said although there was an error in one of the nomination papers which indicated that Akpabio stood for election for Akwa Ibom North-East, the mistake was, however, successfully corrected in all other documents .
The judge also held that the oral evidence of appellants witness and that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), successfully rebutted the case of non-qualification alleged by the appellant .
The appellate court also held that the former governor met the requirements of Section 65 subsection 2 of the 1999 Constitution, which clearly states that a person can only contest an election if he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party .
It further held that the evidence showed that there was no other candidate for Akwa-Ibom North -West senatorial district as such, it is clear that nobody was deceived as to Akpabio’s candidature.