BEVERLY HILLS, October 24, (THEWILL) – The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, said on Saturday that they will appeal the judgment of the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which nullified Wike’s election as governor and ordered fresh governorship election within 90 days.
Addressing journalists after the judgment delivered by Justice Suleiman Ambrusa of the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, counsel to the PDP, Chris Uche, SAN, declared that Wike remains Governor until the appeal processes are exhausted.
He said the nature of the judgment delivered by Justice Ambrusa-led Tribunal makes appeal vital as the new position adopted by the tribunal must be tested in the interest of justice.
Uche noted that the tribunal’s reliance on card reader accreditation to nullify the governorship election when evidence was led by both the respondents and the petitioners that both card reader and manual accreditation were used for the election requires testing at the Court of Appeal.
He noted that it was shocking that less than 24 hours after lawyers on all sides submitted nine written addresses and documents, the Tribunal sent notice that judgment would be delivered on Saturday morning.
Uche said that the tribunal was aware that the Supreme Court judgment on the jurisdiction of the tribunal outside of Rivers State would be delivered on Tuesday. He said that the tribunal had seven days to deliver its judgment, but chose to do so in less than two days.
