Steel Minister, Audu, hails panel’s verdict
Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has affirmed Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as governor.
Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, has congratulated the governor on his victory at the tribunal.
The court, yesterday, dismissed the petition of Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for failure to substantially prove material facts in his petition as required by law.
The three-member panel of justices headed by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu said the petitioner had failed to sufficiently adduce credible evidence in line with the relevant laws to warrant the success of his petition.
In a unanimous judgment, the court held that in line with Section 135 of the Electoral Act, the petitioner failed to prove that the irregularities alleged were substantial enough to affect the entire election.
The court further held that the petitioner, according to law, is duty-bound to lead evidence to show that there was substantial inconsistency and show how the irregularities were enough to affect the outcome of the election.
On the alleged forgery of documents by the petitioner, the court held that the petitioner failed to prove that the documents alleged to have been forged were tendered to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the defendant and also failed to present the document from where they were forged.
It said the petitioner merely dumped the exhibits (video evidence and other documents) in court without calling the relevant makers of such documents to demonstrate the applicability of the document to the petition.
Kogi held its off-cycle election on November 11, 2023, and Ododo emerged victorious, beating his closest rival, Ajaka of SDP.
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, Ajaka filed a petition before the tribunal, challenging Ododo’s victory.
IN his congratulatory message signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Lizzy Okoji, the minister described the tribunal’s verdict as a testament that Ododo was the people’s choice.
Audu, who served as the Director-General (DG) of the APC Gubernatorial Campaign Council for the November 11, election, called on the opposition to accept the verdict as an act of God and work together with the governor for the peace, progress and development of the state.
He said: “I congratulate the governor of Kogi on this well-deserved victory at the tribunal, which has further affirmed the free, fair and credible polls on November 11 in Kogi.”
“As DG of APC Gubernatorial Campaign Council, I have always been confident in the capacity of Ododo to deliver the dividends of democracy in Kogi.
I use this opportunity to urge the opposition SDP to come together and work with the governor for the development of our dear state. Let everyone sheathe their swords, irrespective of their political, ethnic and religious differences, and give the governor all the support he needs to attain great success.”
