The Kogi State Governorship Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, on Monday, affirmed Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress, as the valid winner of the governorship election held in the state on November 11, 2023.
The Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu led three-member panel of justices, dismissed the petition of Murtala Ajaka, of the Social Democratic Party, for failure to substantially prove material facts in his petition as required by law.
The tribunal held that in line with section 135 of the Electoral Act, the petitioner failed to prove how the irregularities alleged were substantial enough to affect the entire election.
In a unanimous decision, the tribunal held that Ajaka had failed to sufficiently adduce credible evidence in line with the relevant laws to warrant the success of his petition.
The court further held that the petitioner, according to law, is duty-bound to lead evidence to show that there was substantial inconsistency and also show how the irregularities are enough to affect the result of the election.
Also Read:
- I now know why Gov. Uba has been praising Tinubu — El-Rufai
- Surviving abroad marriage: My observations, by Tunde Asaju
- Why I dumped PDP – Nwoko; We won’t miss him — Commissioner
- Anambra: Three siblings killed, bodies dumped in deep freezer
- Telecom Tariff Hike: NLC suspends planned nationwide protest
It will be recalled that INEC had announced that Ododo polled a total of 446,237 votes to defeat Ajaka who came second with 259,052 votes.
Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, came a distant third with 46,362 votes.
Though Melaye declined to challenge the outcome of the election however, Ajaka approached the tribunal to invalidate the Certificate of Return that was issued to the APC candidate, Ododo.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
