The election of Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru as the legitimate governor of Ebonyi State in the March 18 governorship election was maintained by the Appeal Court, which met in Lagos on Friday.
Chukwuma Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) filed an appeal, but it was unanimously dismissed by the three-judge panel of justices chaired by justice Jummai Hannatu Sankey for lack of merit.
All five of the PDP candidate’s concerns were addressed by the panel and decided in Nwifuru’s favor.
After reading the main ruling, Justice Sankey declared that the PDP and its candidate did not have the legal authority to interfere with the APC’s internal affairs concerning the nomination of candidates.
With 199,131 votes, Nwifuru, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, defeated PDP contender Ifeanyi Odii, who received 80,191 votes.
In the March 18 governorship election, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate Bernard Odoh received 52,189 votes, placing him in a distant third place.