Supreme Court Sets Date For Judgement On Wike

Chief Nyesom Wike, who has been dethroned as the governor of Rivers state, will have to wait until Tuesday, October 27 before knowing his fate at the Supreme Court. According to The Nation, the court will decide if the election tribunal which nullified Wike’s election as the governor of Rivers state was right to have sat in Abuja after it emerged that the tribunal was one of those relocated to the federal capital over security fears as it could not continue with its proceedings in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. Following last Saturday’s cancellation of the election which ushered in the former education minister as the governor, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wike and the Independent National Electoral Commission (who were respondents in the petition by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the election, Dakuku Peterside) questioned the tribunal’s decision to relocate to Abuja. This objection was subsequently dismissed by the tribunal, arguing that it could sit outside the state where election was held to decide any dispute arising from such election on ground of insecurity. The tribunal’s decision was further upheld by the Court of Appeal, Abuja and a panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Fabiyi, which received the Appeal by Wike on October 16, heard and fixed judgement for Tuesday.