The Ebonyi State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja has struck out the petition filed by Prof. Benard Odoh of the All Progressives Grand Alliance against Governor Francis Nwifuru’s election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Nwifuru of the All Progressives Congress as winner of the March 2023 governorship election in the state.
But Odoh, in his petition, contended that Nwifuru was illegally nominated by the APC because he was still a member of the People’s Democratic Party as a Speaker of the House of Assembly when the APC nominated him.
But in its judgment on Wednesday, the three-man panel held that the governor indeed defected to the APC before declaring for the governorship poll.
The tribunal held that APGA failed to appeal a Federal High Court Judgment which confirmed the governor’s defection.
