Tribunal okays Amaechi as governor

Bolaji Ogundele, Port Harcourt - 28.02.2008

THE election petition tribunal sitting in Port Harcourt on Wednesday struck out a petition filed by the governorship candidate of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), Chief Sergeant Awuse, seeking the nullification of the result of last April governorship election in Rivers state.

Chief Awuse had, at the tribunal, challenged the outcome of the governorship election which returned Celestine Omehia as governor.

He alleged gross irregularities in the conduct of the election and joined the former governor, Chief Celestine Omehia and the Independent National Electoral Commission (NEC) as parties.

Soon after Omehia was ordered out of office by the Supreme Court last October, replacing him with Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the tribunal had granted Omehia’s application to be removed as a party in the petition.

Delivering judgment yesterday, the tribunal's chairman, Justice Suleiman Dikko, said the petition was struck out because the proper parties were not joined.

The chairman said the failure of the petitioner to include the occupier of the governorship seat after Omehia was removed as a party invalidated the petition.