Supreme Court upholds election of Otu as Cross River governor

By Ebere Agozie

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the victory of Gov. Bassey Otu as the governor of Cross River in the 2023 gubernatorial election.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate Sen. Sandy Onor challenged the membership of Otu, in the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Court of Appeal, Calabar Judicial Division, had dismissed the appeal filed by the PDP governorship candidate and Onor against Otu.

Onor had approached both the tribunal and appellate court, insisting that Otu must be disqualified from the race for allegedly holding dual citizenship, certificate forgery and for not being a member of the APC as of the time of the election.

But the lower courts dismissed the PDP petitions, agreeing with the governor’s submission that the PDP cannot challenge the governor on the grounds of party sponsorship and nomination because they were not aspirants during the APC governorship primaries.

(NAN)