Governorship: Results of 14 states set for tribunal
Results of 14 of the 29 governorship seats contested for in the April 11 elections are to be challenged at the election petition tribunals.
The April 11 governorship elections held in 29 states, out of 36, but 11 of the defeated governorship candidates have rejected the outcomes and planned to head to the tribunals.
In Gombe, while the gubernatorial candidate of the APC, has said he will not be going to court to challenge the declaration of Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of the PDP as winner, the state chapter of the party has said it will be taking up the matter in court.
In Oyo, candidate of the Accord Party, Rasheed Ladoja has said he will be going to the tribunal but the candidate of the PDP, Teslim Folarin, has accepted defeat and had called to congratulate the governor.
In Ogun State, the candidate of the PDP, Gboyega Isiaka has also not accepted defeat and has threatened to challenge the result of the elections at the tribunal.
In Delta State, the Labour Party candidate, Great Ogboru, is challenging the election victory of Ifeanyi Okowa of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) .
In Kebbi State, the PDP candidate, Sarki Yaki Bello, said he might challenge the declaration of the APCs Atiku Bagudu as winner of the election, took a decision to head to the tribunal.
Akwa Ibom State’s APC governorship candidate, Umana Umana, is also challenging the declaration of Emmanuel Udom of the PDP, while in Rivers, it is the APC candidate, Dakuku Peterside, kicking against the declaration of Nyesom Wike of the PDP as governor. In Imo, Emeka Ihedioha has given indication that he would head to the tribunal.
In Taraba State, APC’s Hajiya Aisha Jummai Alhassan is challenging the declaration Darius Ishaku of the PDP as winner of the elction, while in Yobe State, Adamu Maina Waziri of the PDP is challenging the return of the incumbent, Ibrahim Gaidam. In Ebonyi, the Labour Party’s governorship candidate, Edward Nkweogou, is challenging the victory of Dave Umahi of the PDP.
The defeated governorship candidates in Imo, Taraba and Abia states, whose election outcomes were determined through supplementaryry elections, said they would go to the court. urt.
In Imo, Ihedioha, said aid during a press briefing shortly after thehe announcement of the poll outcome, that hat INEC and the APC in the state conspiredred to rig the poll.
Ihedioha said the votes of the Imo people were not allowed wed to count during the poll, citing ng the arrest of 26 Imo State’se’s INEC staff conspiring to manipulate the result.
In Taraba, Alhassan rejected the result, saying irregularities, hijack of election materials, security personnel and conspiracy denied her the victory.
In Abia, APGA’s governorship candidate, Alex Otti, and his party, also vowed to challenge the result in court, alleging that manipulation and travesty of the people’s will marred the poll.
Waziri of the PDP, in Yobe, said he was heading to the court on the ground that the elected governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, would, by this election, be sworn-in to office three times, against the constitutional stipulation of two times.
In Plateau, the defeated PDP candidate, Gyang Pwajok, has already filed a suit at the tribunal, challenging the election of the APC’s Simon Lalong as the governor.
But defeated candidates in other 19 states, mostly PDP controlled candidates, have emulated the sportsmanship of Jonathan by conceding defeat and congratulating the winners.