Appeal Court reaffirms Cross River’s Gov Otu’s victory

The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos has reaffirmed the victory of Senator Bassey Otu as the Governor of Cross River State, with Hon Peter Odey as his Deputy. The appeal was dismissed for lacking merit.

The court upheld the arguments presented by Prof Mike Ozekhome, SAN, the lead counsel for Bassey Otu and Peter Odey. It resolved all 20 issues favouring the respondents and against the appellants, the PDP, and Senator Sandy Ojang Onor.

Furthermore, the court imposed a 1 million naira cost against each of the appellants in favour of each of the four respondents: Bassey Otu, Peter Odey, INEC, and the APC. The court affirmed the earlier judgment of the Cross River State Governorship election tribunal, delivered on September 26, 2023.

The tribunal’s judgment had confirmed Prince Bassey Edet Otu and his Deputy, Hon. Peter Agbe Odey, as competent candidates and winners of the Governorship Election held in Cross River State on March 18, 2023.

In the lead judgment, the presiding Justice resolved several issues in favour of the respondents. The court agreed that the tribunal was right to decline jurisdiction in determining the membership of a political party of Hon Peter Agbe Odey, as it is a pre-election matter and statute-barred.

The court also concurred with the tribunal that providing false information on Form EC9 is a pre-election matter and agreed with the learned tribunal’s decision on other issues, including the credibility of certain witnesses.

In concurring judgments delivered by other Justices, the court emphasized the importance of understanding the relevant sections of the law to differentiate between pre and post-election matters. It concluded by dismissing the appeal for lacking merit and affirmed Prince Bassey Edet Otu and Hon Peter Agbe Odey as the duly elected Governor and Deputy Governor of Cross River State, respectively.