NSOFOR, JCA (DELIVERING THE LEADING JUDGMENT): This is an appeal from the decision, on the 20/2/99 of the Local Government Election Tribunal for Rivers State of Nigeria, (hereinafter to be referred to as the tribunal, simply, for short) holden in Port Harcourt.
In the Obio/Akpo Local Government Council Chairmanship election held on the 12/12/98 the contestants in the election included (a) Ezenwo Nyesom Wike contesting on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Cyprian Chukwu for the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Cyprian Tasie Wike. He contested on the platform of All Peoples Party (APP). At the conclusion of the election exercise, the votes as scored and as recorded for the political parties respectively were as follows:-
(1) 40,370 votes for PDP
(2) 11,441 votes for AD and
(3) 6,833 votes for APP.
But in making a return of the candidate who won the election by scoring the majority of lawful votes, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) (the body statutorily re…