The Governorship candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 18 election in Ebonyi State, Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii and the People Democratic Party (PDP) said that they will present at least 60 witnesses to prove their case against Governor Francis Nwifuru’s victory.
The Counsel for the petitioners, Gordy Uche, said this to the three-member panel of the Ebonyi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, headed by Justice A. L. Ogunmoye, during the pre-hearing session in Abuja.
Gov Nwifuru of the All Progressive Congess (APC) garnered a total of 199,131 votes across the 13 local governments in the state to defeat his closest rival, Ifeanyi Odii, who got a total of 80,191 votes and was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Odii and PDP, In the petition (EPT/EB/02/2023) dated April 6 and filed April 7 by their team of lawyers, led by Chris Uche, had sued INEC, Nwifuru, and APC, maintaining that Nwifuru did not secure the majority of lawful votes cast during the election.
They further claimed that there was serious non-compliance with the terms of the Electoral Act of 2022, and that Nwifuru’s election victory was marked by corrupt practices.
Odii is also requesting the revocation of the Certificate of Return that INEC awarded to the governor in addition to asking the court to proclaim him the legitimate winner of the gubernatorial election.
In addition, the petitioners claimed that Nwifuru did not legitimately leave the PDP prior to receiving the APC’s nomination for governor.