Why There Will Be No Re-run Of Elections In Rivers State

It is no longer news that Governor Nyesom Wike has filed for an appeal against the judgment of Rivers state election petitions tribunal.
The Justice Ambrosa-led tribunal in the petition filed by the defeated Rivers state APC governorship candidate, Mr Dakuku Peterside, will not stand the test of appeal because it was premised on the elevation of a mere INEC press statement above the electoral act, which legally governs the electoral process in Nigeria”.
“It was on the premise of the INEC Press Statement that the Justice Ambrosa-led Tribunal opined that the use of both card reader accreditation and manual accreditation as done in Rivers State as well as other states was wrong. The tribunal failed to acknowledge the fact that the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos upheld the election of Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, with the clear declaration that the non-use or non functionality of the card reader cannot invalidate an election. This position has been held in all other states where the tribunals declared that accreditation in an election was done both by the use of card readers and the manual process.
Tribunal judgments on governorship elections in Nasarawa, Gombe, Ogun, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Lagos and Enugu States have been consistent on the accreditation process. There was no single state where the tribunal nullified an election on the premise of INEC Press Statement on the card reader because the Electoral Act predates the introduction of the card reader, as spelt out by the INEC Press Statement. In the case of Rivers State, the Justice Ambrosa-led Tribunal negated the legal process and used generic considerations of the hearsay testimonies of a few ward and local government collation agents who admitted in open court that they were not participants at the polling units where election took place to nullify a validly conducted election. I see Wike coming out victorious in his appeal and a re-run won’t be necessary. Meanwhile, a similar case was presented to the court of appeal in the agbaje vs ambode case. We all know that ambode won the case. I don’t see the appeal court speaking two different languages on the same issue.