The Supreme Court’s decision in senator hope Uzodinma & all progressives congress (APC) V. Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) & independent national electoral commission (INEC): A case of corruption or preponderance of evidence?

Abstract

Election petitions have become the norm after almost every conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Nigeria. The 2019 Imo State Governorship election was not an exception. It would have been like the regular election petitions that take place nationwide but this particular one sparked public interest and public outrage. The term ‘Supreme Court Governor’ was coined and used to describe the appellant in the election petition, who emerged victorious. The opinion of the general public, especially those in Imo State, was that it was impossible for the appellant, who got the fourth highest number of votes, to be declared winner of the election. It was generally assumed that, if at all there was an error in the final results of the elections, the best person to be declared winner of the elections should have been the contestant with the second highest number of votes. This paper reviews the legality of this theory as well as important decisions the Supreme Court held in the case.