ABUJA, Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Appeal Court sitting in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has upheld the election of Godswill Akpabio as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria representing Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
Akwa Ibom state ex-Governor Godswill Akpabio
Godswill Akpabio tweets on the outcome of the election petition at the Appeal Court, 11 December 2015.
The petition against Godswill Akpabio, who is currently the Senate Minority Leader, was initiated by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Mathew Inibehe Okori after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that Akpabio was the winner of the election held on 28 March 2015.
On 14 October 2015, the Akwa Ibom National and State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, ruled that Akpabio was duly and lawfully elected. However, Okori being dissatified with the ruling, took a step further by taking the case to the Appeal Court.
The Appeal Court held that Akpabio was duly sponsored by the People’s Democratic Party of Nigeria, and that the non-eligibility issue raised by the appellant was not in line with Section 66 (2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
