The Court of Appeal, convening in Lagos, has dismissed the lawsuit filed by Eseme Eyiboh of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the grounds of “lack of merit”.
The court has declared Okpolupm Etteh of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the rightful representative of the Eket/ONNA/Esit Eket/Ibeno Federal Constituency in Akwa Ibom State.
The ruling, delivered on Thursday by a panel led by Justice Jummai Hannatu C. Sankey, cited the comprehensive judgment of the Justice Kudirat Jose-led Tribunal.
This judgment affirmed Hon. Etteh as the winner of the House of Representatives election held on February 25, 2023, for the Eket/ONNA/Esit Eket/Ibeno Federal Constituency. Etteh had been declared the winner by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), securing 33,001 votes compared to his opponent Eyiboh, who received 16,909 votes.
The court further ordered Eyiboh to pay a sum of N300,000 to each of the respondents. The court noted that Eyiboh’s allegations of certificate forgery against Etteh were based on mere speculation.
It is worth recalling that in his petition, Eyiboh had claimed that Etteh, the PDP candidate, was ineligible to run for election due to certificate forgery. He urged the Tribunal to invalidate Etteh’s eligibility and declare himself (Eyiboh) as the winner of the election.
