Supreme Court affirms Eno as Akwa Ibom Governor

The Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed the election of Umo Eno of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the duly elected governor of Akwa Ibom State.

The apex court dismissed the appeals filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Young Progressives Party (YPP), and the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), which contested Eno’s eligibility as the validly elected governor of the state or the conduct of the election.

Eno was declared the winner of the governorship election on March 19, 2023, in Uyo, the state capital, by Emmanuel Adigio, a professor and Returning Officer for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Eno won in 29 of the 31 local government areas in the state with a total of 354,348 votes to defeat his major challenger, Bassey Albert of the YPP who won in two local governments areas, scoring 136,262 votes

The APC candidate, Akanimo Udofia, came third with 129,602 votes.

The candidates of NNPP and LP scored 12,509 and 4,746 votes respectively.

READ ALSO: Tribunal upholds Gov Umo Eno’s election in Akwa Ibom

Adigio gave the total number of registered voters in the state as 2,357,418 out of which 657,959 representing about a quarter were accredited for the exercise.

He also gave the total valid votes cast as 656,422 out of which 12,342 were rejected votes while 644,080 were valid votes.

Following the dissatisfaction of Eno’s top challengers on the conduct of the election, they proceeded to challenge his victory at the courts.

The apex court’s ruling, however, has put to rest the months of legal battle to unseat the governor.

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