Supreme Court Affirms Fubara as Rivers State Governor. Who’s In Charge?

The Supreme Court has dismissed Tonye Cole and the All-Progressives Congress (APC) appeal against Siminalayi Fubara’s election as Rivers State governor, stating it lacked merit.

Dismissing Cole’s appeal as incompetent, the court, a five-member panel led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, on Thursday, affirmed Fubara as the duly elected governor, ruling that the appellant failed to prove allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

In the March 18, 2023 election, INEC declared Fubara the winner, with 302,614 votes, defeating Cole, the APC governorship candidate, who scored 95,274 votes. Cole challenged Fubara’s victory, arguing he did not resign as the Accountant General of Rivers State before the election.

The Tribunal and Appeal Court dismissed his case concurrently, ruling that he failed to provide credible evidence to support his claims of non-qualification, corrupt practices, and non-compliance, thus affirming Fubara’s electoral victory.

In its Thursday judgment, the Supreme Court upheld the Appellate Court’s decision, also affirming Fubara’s position as Governor.

However, this development brings to mind the Fubara-Wike power tussle over who controls the political structure of the state. Recall that the Governor’s predecessor, Nyesom Wike, recently commented, saying:

“When the time comes, we will know who’s in charge and who is not in charge.”

This came after reports of the Governor’s refusal to sign an 8-pointer directive of which yielding autonomy to the state’s House of Assembly was notable.

With the full power that comes with his position, as affirmed to him by the Supreme Court, the netizens question, “So, who’s in charge?”

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Joy Chukwu

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