The Supreme Court has rejected three separate appeals brought before it by governorship candidates aiming to invalidate the election of Akwa Ibom State governor, Mr. Umo Eno Bassey, on grounds of alleged certificate forgery.

The appellants, including the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate Akanimo Udofia, Young Progressives Party (YPP) and its gubernatorial candidate Akpan Albert Bassey, as well as the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and its governorship candidate John James Akpan Udoedehe, sought to nullify Governor Eno Bassey’s election based on claims of certificate forgery.

During the proceedings, lead counsel to the respective parties withdrew their separate appeals after receiving indications from the court’s panel that the appeals lacked merit. Despite the spirited efforts of the counsel to convince the court of the alleged forgery, the Apex Court Justices questioned the lack of evidence from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to substantiate the forgery allegations.

Justice Uwani Abba-Aji dismissed the appeals upon their withdrawal by the counsel. The Court did not impose costs against the lawyers to the appellants as the cases were voluntarily withdrawn on the grounds of lack of merit.

In November of the previous year, the Court of Appeal in Lagos had affirmed the election of Governor Eno of Akwa Ibom State in the governorship election held on March 18, 2023. The appellate court dismissed three separate appeals filed against the governor’s election, stating that all three lacked merit in unanimous judgments.