The Supreme Court has upheld the nomination of Akan Udofia as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State.
The unanimous judgement in the suit marked SC/CV/158/2023 was delivered on Tuesday by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.
The court struck out Ita Enang’s appeal and upheld the January 19th judgement of the Court of Appeal which confirmed the nomination of Udofia.
It held that Udofia is a member of the APC having duly secured the waiver of the party to contest the May 26th governorship primaries.
The Supreme Court further ruled that political parties have a right to grant waivers to members, saying the lower court erred in ruling otherwise.
Consequently, Enang’s appeal, which was described as a mere academic exercise, was dismissed for lack of merit.
The judgement lays to rest the controversies surrounding the nomination of Udofia as APC standard bearer for Saturday’s gubernatorial contest.
Enang, ex-Akwa Ibom North East Senator, served as Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Niger Delta and previously SSA on National Assembly.