Udom uphold as the Governor of Akwa ibom state by supreme Court

At the election tribunal, Mr. Emmanuel of
the Peoples Democratic Party, had
secured partial victory, with the election
cancelled only in 18 out of the state’s 31
local government areas.
The tribunal had ordered a rerun.
Mr. Emmanuel had challenged the ruling,
insisting he won in all 31 LGAs.
The APC candidate, Mr. Umana, also
appealed against the ruling, seeking a
total nullification of the election.
But a five-man panel at the Court of
Appeal dismissed Mr. Emmanuel’s
argument, and cancelled the entire
election.
The appeal court had said the tribunal
was wrong in its refusal to comply with
section 179 (2) of the Constitution.
The court said having agreed with the
evidence of principal witnesses, video
evidence, and evidence from state
collation agents, the tribunal should have
concluded that there was no collation and
that votes were merely allotted.
“The question is, if there was no collation,
can there be said to be an election,” the
court asked. “Indeed where there was no
collation of election, there cannot be said
to be an election.”
The tribunal was wrong in failing to
nullify the entire election, the court ruled,
setting aside the judgement of the
tribunal in the 13 LGAs.
“The entire election is hereby nullified.
The election that brought Mr. Udom is
hereby nullified,” it ruled.
The appeal court then ordered the
Independent National Electoral
Commission to conduct fresh election
within 90 days.
That verdict has now been upturned by
the Supreme Court, and Mr. Emmanuel
can now breathe a sigh of relief.