Tribunal dismisses three petitions, affirms Ihedioha’s election as Imo governor

The Imo State Election Tribunal has dismissed three petitions seeking to upturn the election of Emeka Ihedioha as governor of the state.

The chairman of the tribunal, Justice Umar Dogondaji, in its ruling on Saturday, thereafter affirmed the election of Ihedioha as the lawfully elected governor of the state.

Three petitions were filed by the governorship candidates of the Action Alliance (AA), All Progressives Congress, (APC) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), asking the tribunal to nullify the election of Mr Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on the ground that he was unlawfully declared as the governor of the state by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Earlier in the day, the Tribunal dismissed the petition of APGA and its governorship candidate Senator Ifeanyi Arareume for lacking in merit.

It also dismissed the petition of the candidate of the AA, Mr. Uche Nwosu, for incompetence.

The tribunal also dismissed the petition of Senator Hope Uzodinma of the APC because he did not discharge the burden of proof of the allegation that his results were excluded from the final results of the election.

The judgment was delivered at the FCT High Court in Jabi, Abuja.