Kogi governorship election; Again Governor Ododo floors SDP, Ajaka at appeal court

By Obansa Ibrahim, Lokoja

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has upheld the election of Ahmed Usman Ododo as the duely elected Governor of Kogi state in the November 11 governorship election in the state.

The appellate court on Thursday backed the verdict of the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja which had affirmed Ododo’s election victory.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Ahmed Usman Ododo, as the winner of the November 11, 2023 Kogi State Governorship Election.

The state Returning Officer, Prof Johnson Urama, who is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, announced Ododo as the winner.

According to the announced results, Ododo polled 446,237 votes, to beat his closest rival, Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who scored 259,052, while Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 46,362 votes.

However, the petitioners approached the tribunal seeking to overturn the election results and an order directing INEC to conduct a fresh election in about five LGAs

Ajaka’s legal team led by Joseph Okutepa, (SAN) had challenged the poll on the grounds of alleged forgery, over voting and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

However, the Court of Appeal on Thursday upheld the decision of the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which affirmed the victory of Ahmed Usman Ododo as the duly elected governor of Kogi State in the November 11 gubernatorial election, and dismisses the appeal filed by the SDP candidate, Murtala Yakubu Ajaka.

The Appellate Court, while resolving all four grounds of appeal against the appellant, noted that the destiny of the appeal was not in the cloud and therefore dismissed it.