Cross River Tribunal Dismisses PDP Candidate’s Petition Against Governor Otu’s Victory
The Cross River State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Tuesday struck out the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Sandy Onor, challenging the declaration of Bassey Otu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the 2023 election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Bassey Out as the winner of the election, saying he polled 258,619 votes and that Onor polled 179,636 votes.
The suit numbered EPT/CR/GOV/02/2023 was jointly instituted by Onor and the PDP.
The counsel for Governor Otu, Prof. Mike Ozekhome (SAN) had urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition, describing it as lacking in merit.
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Meanwhile, in his final written address, J. Y. Musa (SAN), counsel for Onor had told the court that the evidence obtained during the cross-examination of the respondents strengthened their petition and weakened the evidence provided by the second and third respondents – Governor Otu and Peter Odey.
The judgment delivered by a three-member panel ruled that Onor’s petition lacked merit.