Breaking: APC Suffers Serious Defeat as Court of Appeal Declares PDP Candidate Senator for Cross River North

• An Appeal Court Tribunal sitting in Calabar has sacked the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Steven Odey
• The court asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the certificate of return it earlier issued to Odey
• The three-man appeal court tribunal, however, ordered the INEC to issue a certificate of return to the PDP candidate, Agom Jerigbe

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Cross River, Calabar - The appeal court sitting in Calabar has declared Jerigbe Agom Jerigbe as a duly elected senator for Cross River North, The Nation reports.

Legit.ng gathered that the court declared the lawful candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the winner of the December 5, 2020, senatorial by-election.

Court of Appeal sacks APC senator Odey

The Guardian also reports that the three-man tribunal headed by Justice Chioma I. Nwosu also invalidated the certificate of return earlier issued to Steven Odey by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and directed it should be withdrawn.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Supreme Court on Wednesday, July 28, upheld the ruling of the Court of Appeal which had earlier upheld the re-election of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo.

It was reported a seven-man panel made of justices of the Supreme Court sat over the long-awaited hearing in which four of the judges upheld Akeredolu's candidacy in the October 10, 2020 election.

The remaining three judges disagreed with their colleagues and maintained that Akeredolu’s candidacy in the said election is a nullity.

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Eyitayo Jegede, was challenging the nomination letter of Akeredolu signed by Mai Mala Buni who doubles as the governor of Yobe and the interim chairman of the ruling's party's caretaker committee.

According to the report, the executive members of the party were afraid that if the court gave a judgment different from the ruling of the Court of Appeal, there would be serious trouble within the ranks.

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President Buhari congratulates Akeredolu over victory

In a related report, President Buhari congratulated Governor Akeredolu over the Supreme Court judgement, which upheld his re-election in the October 10, 2020 election.

This was revealed in a statement released on Wednesday, July 28, by the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina.

President Buhari advised Akeredolu and all elected leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to always put the people first in their consideration of development projects.

Source: Legit.ng