Nigeria: Appeal Court Upholds Ododo's Election As Governor of Kogi

11 July 2024
Vanguard (Lagos)

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, upheld the election of Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the Governor of Kogi.

The three-member panel of justices, in a judgment, agreed with the state election tribunal that the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its governorship candidate, Murtala Ajaka, failed to prove all the allegations in their petition beyond reasonable doubt.

The appellate court held that the petitioners' witnesses were incompetent because their statements did not accompany the petition in line with electoral laws.

The Appeal Court also held that the issue of alleged certificate forgery against Ododo ought to have commenced at the Federal High Court, being a pre-election matter.

Subsequently, the Appeal Court held that the appellants could not prove their case "beyond reasonable doubt," thereby upholding Ododo's election.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that SDP and Ajaka had, in the petition, sued INEC, Ododo and the APC as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.

Read the original article on Vanguard.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2024 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 110 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.