THE Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, has affirmed the election of Usman Ododo as the Governor of Kogi State.
A three-man panel of the court in a judgement on Thursday, July 11, upheld the decision of the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
The appellate court gave the ruling after dismissing the appeal filed by the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the November 11, 2023 election, Murtala Yakubu Ajaka.
While dismissing all four grounds of appeal against the SDP and Ajaka, the Appeal Court found that the petitioners had not established each of their claims beyond a reasonable doubt.
The court further decided that the case involving Ododo and the purported certificate fabrication should have started at the Federal High Court because it is a pre-election matter.
The ICIR reported in November 2023 that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Ododo of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the winner of the Kogi State governorship election.
Ododo garnered 446,237 votes, to defeat his closest opponent Ajaka, who had 259,052 votes. Dino Melaye, a PDP candidate, received 46,362 votes.
Dissatisfied with the election results, Ajaka proceeded to the tribunal to request that the results be overturned and that INEC be ordered to hold new elections in roughly five LGAs.
Ajaka and his party contested the poll on the grounds of purported voting fraud, non-compliance with the Electoral Act, and forgery.
To prove their point and refute the results in the polling centres, they called a few witnesses from the five Local Government Areas, including the Adavi and Okene LGAs.
However, the tribunal rejected the case and upheld Ododo’s election, concluding that the petitioner had not proven, among other things, that the governor had provided a fake certificate.
The ICIR reported that Ododo was sworn in on January 27.
A reporter with the ICIR
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