The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the election of Governor Yahaya Bello as Kogi State governor.
A seven-man panel of the court led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, made the declaration in two judgments, where it dismissed separate appeals filed by the people’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
The Nigeria apex court affirmed the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal in Abuja on July 4, 2020, and the verdict of the election tribunal, which had earlier affirmed Bello’s victory of the election.
The judgement affirmed the validity of the November 16, 2019 governorship election in Kogi State.
Both the PDP and SDP, with their governorship candidates in the election, had alleged that the election was full of corrupt practices and non-compliance with the provision of the Nigerian Constitution, the Electoral Act and the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Electoral Guidelines.
But the appeals were dismissed by the apex court, arguing that the allegations, which included the charges by the SDP against Bello’s running mate, and now the Kogi State Deputy Governor, Edward Onoja, that he falsified documents, submitted false information to INEC and not qualified to contest the November 2019 election were not back with substantial evidence by the appellants.
The lead judgement on the appeal of the PDP was prepared by Justice Inyang Okoro but read on his behalf by another member of the panel, Justice Uwani Abba-Aji.
Justice Abba-Aji was the only member of the panel present in court on Monday and he read the lead judgement prepared by Justice Inyang Okoro.
The apex court, therefore, affirmed the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Abuja on July 4, 2020, and the majority verdict of the election petition tribunal on May 23, 2020, in which both judgements had upheld Bello’s victory at the poll.
The Supreme Court resolved all the five issues raised for determination in the appeal against the PDP and its governorship candidate in the disputed poll, Musa Wada, who jointly filed the appeal.
The apex court declared the appeals of the appellant as lacking merit as it resolved all the five issues in favor of Bello, his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The court ruled, “Having resolved all the five issues against the appellants, it is abundantly clear that the appeal is devoid of any scintilla of merit and it is accordingly dismissed.”
On the appeal filed by the SDP and its candidate, Justice Abba-Aji said, Natasha Akpoti, that the current judgement of the Court of Appeal and the election petition tribunal remained “unimpeachable”.
Aside from the CJN, Justice Okoro and Aba-Aji, other members of the panel who also agreed with the lead judgement included Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, Sylvester Ngwuta, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun and Amina Augie.
