Court Reserves Judgement In Kogi Gov Election Dispute

The Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, has reserved judgment in the petition filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and its governorship candidate, Murtala Ajaka, against the election victory of Governor Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

At Monday’s proceedings, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the APC and ododo, asked the tribunal to dismiss the petition filed by Ajaka for being incompetent and lacking in merit.

They stated this through their lawyers, Kanu Agabi, Joseph Daudu and Emmanuel Ukala while adopting their final written addresses.

Counsel for Ajaka, Pius Akubo, however, urged the tribunal to set aside Ododo’s submissions and uphold theirs.

After listening to all the parties, the tribunal led by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu, reserved judgment to a date that will be communicated to both parties.

INEC had declared Ododo winner of the keenly-contested November 11, 2023 Kogi State Governorship Election. Ododo, an ally of former Governor Yahaya Bello won with 446,237 votes, to defeat his closest rival, Ajaka of the SDP, who scored 259,052, while Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 46,362 votes.

Ododo and Melaye had said the election was fraught with irregularities. The SDP candidate later challenged the result of the poll in court.