Tribunal upholds Gov Umo Eno’s election in Akwa Ibom

The Akwa Ibom governorship election petitions tribunal on Friday upheld the election of Governor Umo Eno in the state.

The tribunal had in a two-hour judgment dismissed the petition of Bassey Akpan of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) who had challenged the governor’s victory in the Match 18 election in Akwa Ibom.

The panel on Thursday dismissed the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Akanimo Udofia, for lack of merit.

In Friday’s proceeding, the three-member panel led by Justice Adekunle Adeleye, described the YPP candidate’s petition as frivolous.

The tribunal held that Eno did not present forged WAEC certificates as claimed by the petitioner.

READ ALSO: Appeal Court restores ex-land commissioner, Umo Eno, as PDP governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom

Justice Adeleye, who read the judgement, said a West African Examination Council (WAEC) official who was summoned via a subpoena as PW10, authenticated the governor’s certificates.

He said: “WAEC did not disclaim the 1981 and 1983 WAEC certificates. Without a disclaimer by the issuing authority, the certificates remained valid.

“There is no legislation in Nigeria that a person’s name should be arranged in a particular order on a document.

“In the absence of any other person holding claims to the said 1981 and 1983 WAEC certificates, I hold that the certificates belong to the 2nd respondent.

“Even the 1st petitioner himself told the court that he was a victim of the same issue as three documents bearing his name tendered as exhibits before the tribunal carried different arrangements of his name, Sen. Akpan, Sen. Akpan Bassey Albert, and Bassey Albert Akpan. This is a case of a pot calling a kettle black.”

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