Supreme Court on Friday, laid to rest the legal battle over the Kogi state Governorship seat when it affirmed Usman Ododo of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the validly elected governor of Kogi.
The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Muritala Ajaka in the November 11, 2023 governorship election in Kogi state and his party had challenged the judgment of the Court of Appeal which upheld the decision of the Kogi state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which affirmed Ododo’s victory at the poll.
A five-member panel of justices of the apex court had, in a unanimous judgment upheld the concurrent judgments of the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal and dismissed the appeal filed by Ajaka and his party for lacking in merit.
The Apex Court panel said the allegation of substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act in the conduct of the election was not proven by Ajaka and his party.
It further held that allegations of age falsification and certificate forgery are pre-election matters and pointed out that it is the Federal High Court that has jurisdiction to hear such.
INEC had announced that Ododo polled a total of 446,237 votes to defeat Ajaka who came second with 259,052 votes in the November 11 governorship election of Kogi.
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