The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed an appeal filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its governorship candidate, Murtala Ajaka against the election victory of Kogi governor, Usman Ododo
A five-man panel of the apex Court chaired by Justice Mohammed Garba passed its final verdict on the matter on August 23, 2024.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had upheld the election of Usman Ododo.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Usman Ododo, as the winner of the keenly contested 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 at 10:23 pm on Sunday, November 12, 2023.
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 an overturn of the election results and an order directing INEC to conduct a fresh election in about five LGAs.
At the tribunal, Ajaka’s legal team led challenged the poll on the grounds of alleged forgery, voting and non-compliance to the Electoral Act.
However, the APC legal team led by Emmanuel Ukala challenged the competence of the witnesses presented by the petitioner, adding that their statements were not filed along with the petition.
Counsel for INEC, Kanu Agabi (SAN) maintained that the witnesses presented by the petitioner were incompetent because “they are not the makers” of the electoral documents submitted as exhibits.
The tribunal dismissed the petition and affirmed the election of Ododo while holding that the petitioner could not prove that the governor presented a forged certificate, among other things.
Parties approached the appeal court but the appellate court agreed with the tribunal.
At the apex court hearing, Ajaka’s legal team urged the Court to increase its panel to seven before hearing the appeal, allow his appeal, set aside the judgment of the appeal court and returning his client as the duly elected governor of Kogi state.
But the INEC counsel, Agabi stressed that the application to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, calling for the increment of the panel members “is unnecessary.”
Agabi urged the apex court to dismiss the appeal and refuse to return Ajaka as governor because “the appellant had branded the election as invalid.”
Counsels for the governor Ododo and others aligned with the submission of INEC.
In its unanimous judgment on Friday, the apex Court held that the SDP candidate failed to prove his allegations of an invalid election and non-compliance to the electoral act.
It subsequently dismissed the appeal for “lacking in merit”.
A governor is an elected official who is in charge of the state affairs including its internally generated and federally allocated revenues.
By the judgment of the apex court, Ododo has been backed by all the courts to continue discharging his duties as Kogi State governor.
Ododo took over from ex-governor Yahaya Bello and he served as former Local Government Auditor-General in Kogi state.
