JUST IN: Tribunal Gives Judgment on Labour Party’s Petition Seeking to Remove Rivers State Governor

The Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja has delivered verdict on the petition filed by the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Rivers State, Beatrice Itubo, challenging the election of Siminalayi Fubara of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Newsmen reports that in a ruling on Monday, the three-member tribunal, led by Justice Cletus Emifonye, held that the LP’s petition lacked merit and that the petitioners failed to prove their allegations.

The tribunal had reserved judgment on September 13 after the parties adopted their final written addresses and presented their arguments for and against the petition.

Recall that following the declaration of Fubara as the winner of the March 18 governorship election, the LP and the All Progressives Congress (APC), as well as their candidates, filed a petition before the tribunal.

Fubara polled 302,614 votes to defeat his closet rival Tonye Cole of the APC, who scored 95,274 votes while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Senator Magnus Abe, and Itubo came a distant third and fourth with 46,981 and 22,224 votes respectively.