by Nurat Uthman
The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the election of Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the Kogi State governorship election which held on November 11, 2023.
The affirmation followed the dismissal of the appeal of Murtala Ajaka, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party who challenged the outcome of the election.
In a unanimous judgment, the Apex Court upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal which on the twenty-seventh of May affirmed the election of Mister Ododo.
The five-man panel held that the allegation of substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act was not proven by the SDP governorship candidate.
It further stated that allegations of age falsification and certificate forgery are pre-election matters which ought to have been ventilated at the Federal High Court which has jurisdiction to hear such matters.
The Supreme Court therefore dismissed Ajaka’s appeal for lacking merit.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced that Ododo polled a total of 446,237 votes to defeat Mister Ajaka who came second with 259,052 votes.
