Rivers Election: Wike Reacts To Supreme Court Ruling

Governor Nyesom Wike has said that he was confident about the confirmation of his re-election by the Supreme Court.

Naijaparry reports that the apex court had on Friday on Friday upheld the two appeals filed by Wike challenging an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeal.

The African Action Congress and its candidate in the March election, Festus Awara, had challenged the outcome of the governorship election.

Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, Wike said that he expected it because Awara could not have won an election he did not contest.

“I expected the confirmation because the law is clear. The man who is challenging us never contested any election. So, he couldn’t have won. It is so painful,” the Governor said.

“It is part of life, if he really ran election with us, one can say there could be a problem. A man that I never knew till a few days to the election, how would it have been that the man won the election? So, I expected that the court would do the right thing, which they did.”

Governor Wike expressed confidence in the judiciary to always act in the best interest of Nigeria’s democracy.

“We give God all the glory. Some of us have confidence in the judiciary, even though you can’t expect perfection. That does not mean that they have not done well. So, I am happy what happened on Friday at the Supreme Court,” he said.

“You don’t talk of governance, but you talk of rule of law. When people talk about governance, we talk about accountability. You can’t talk about all these things without adhering to the tenets of the rule of law. So, my training as a lawyer gives me the background that I must follow due process. What the law says you must adhere, whether it is against you or not,” he added.

“The rule of law is very much the backbone of getting to the root of democracy. So, as a lawyer, I feel happy that it has helped me, moulded me, and as my backbone to say look you have to do what is right.”