3 months ago
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The election petition tribunals for Kogi and Bayelsa states’ governorship elections have upheld the November 11 elections in the state that produced Governor Usman Ododo for Kogi and gave Senator Duoye Diri a second term as Bayelsa state governor.
Both tribunals sitting in Abuja held that the petitioners did not provide sufficient evidence to prove their cases.
In the case of Kogi, the three-member panel of justices led by Justice Yusuf Birnin-Kudu held that contrary to the petition filed by the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Murtala Ajaka, the election was conducted in “substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.”
Ajaka and the SDP had challenged the outcome of the election on the grounds of widespread irregularities, overvoting, non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, and non-qualification of the candidate.
The panel had earlier dismissed the exhibits produced by the petitioners through their counsel, Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), including results sheets and forms for the conduct of the election, on the grounds that the makers were not called upon to demonstrate them during the proceedings but rather dumped them on the court.
The panel also dismissed petitions filed by the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) and the Action Alliance (AA).
Reacting to the judgement, Ajaka has said his loss was just a temporary setback as he is set to pursue the case to the highest court, adding that “a long walk to freedom has just begun.”
“Our opponents may have won this first round of the battle, but they have not won the war. We will take this fight to the very end, where justice will prevail. We will reclaim our stolen mandate and restore the faith of our people in the democratic process,” he said.
For Bayelsa, the three-member panel led by Justice Adekunle Adeleye, in a unanimous judgement dismissed the petition filed by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva, for lacking merit.
The panel further held that the reliefs of the petitioners were contradictory since they did not tender any electoral material to show that any irregularity occurred during the election.
Reacting, Sylva vowed to challenge the outcome of the election at the Court of Appeal after meeting critical stakeholders of the party.
“No quantum of miscarriage of justice will make us lose confidence in the Nigerian judicial system,” he said.
But Governor Diri commended the judiciary for upholding his victory and the wishes of the people.
He vowed not to be distracted in his commitment to serve the people of the state.
