The Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, on Monday, affirmed the election of Governor Usman Ododo of All Progressives Congress, (APC), in the November 11, 2023 governorship poll.
The three-member panel of justices, headed by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu, held that the petition filed against Ododo’s election was bereft of substance and accordingly dismissed.
The tribunal held that the petitioners – the Social Democratic Party, (SDP), and its candidate, Murtala Ajaka – failed to prove the allegations of over-voting and non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022, in the petition.
The panel, in a unanimous decision, held that all the witness evidence filed before it were incompetent and full of inconsistencies.
It also agreed with the submissions of the respondents that the allegations of forgery raised in the petition were a pre-election matter, which ought to have been raised 14 days after the documents were submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC).
In another development, the Bayelsa governorship election petition tribunal has upheld the re-election of Douye Diri as governor of the state.
A three-member tribunal led by Adekunle Adeleye dismissed the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress, (APC) and its candidate Timipre Sylva for lacking in merit.
In its unanimous decision on Monday, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to adduce any credible evidence to substantiate any of the allegations they raised against the outcome of the Bayelsa poll.
