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The Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar, Cross River state, has ordered a rerun election in Akwa Ibom north-west senatorial district where Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, took on Senator Chris Ekpeyong, in the February elections.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Ekpeyong, who contested under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), winner of the election but Akapbio filed a petition against his victory at the tribunal.
He had asked the tribunal to set aside Ekpenyong’s election, alleging that it was marred by irregularities.
But describing the petition as “lacking in merit”, the tribunal said the petitioner failed to prove that he won the election as well as failed to present convincing evidence of non-compliance with electoral act as raised in his petition.
Dissatisfied with the verdict of the tribunal, he headed to the appellate court.