The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos on Wednesday upheld the election of Bassey Otu as governor of Cross River State.
The Court dismissed the appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sandy Onor, for lack of merit.
The appellate court maintained the verdict of the Election Petitions Tribunal on September 26 that upheld the election of Otu and his deputy, Peter Odey, of the All Progressives Congress
Recall that Otu was proclaimed the winner of the governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission after polling 258,619 votes and winning in 15 of the State’s 18 local governments, defeating his closest rival, Onor who polled 179,636 votes.
Expressing happiness at the confirmation of his victory, Otu expressed a hand of fellowship to his main challenger, Onor.
The governor said he was confident of the outcome of the appeal, knowing that the electorate had massively voted for him during the March 18 governorship election.
Otu, who promised to serve the State and move forward with his People First Agenda, urged the opposition to accept the verdict in good faith and join hands with his administration in moving the State forward.
“The ruling of the Court of Appeal today is a welcome development and affirms that we were overwhelmingly voted in by the people on March 18, 2023.
“This ruling should bring an end to litigation on the outcome of the governorship election.
“For those in the opposition, especially my brother, Prof. Sandy Onor, I once again offer you a hand of friendship. Come and join my administration so that together we can move our State forward and bring about the dividends of democracy”.
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