Supreme Court Upholds Election Of Yahaya Bello As Kogi State Governor

August 31, 2020
106 Views

The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Yahaya Bello as the Governor of Kogi State, after dismissing the appeal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Mr Musa Wada, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Natasha Akpoti.

Supreme Court Upholds Election Of Yahaya Bello As Kogi State Governor 1

PDP candidate, Mr Wada had claimed that the governorship election held on November 16, 2019, was riddled with serious electoral infractions; rigging and over-voting, and that Governor Bello didn’t secure the highest vote.

While the SDP candidate, Mrs Akpoti had filed seven grounds of appeal which includes an allegation of age falsification against the Kogi State Deputy Governor.

The appellants prayed the court to nullify the Certificate of Return that was issued to Governor Bello by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and order fresh election in Kogi State.

However, in its Judgement delivered on Monday, August 31, 2020, the Apex Court, led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, disagreed with the appeal filed by both Appellants.

Justice Tanko held that allegations of corruption the Appellants raised against the election were criminal in nature, and therefore ought to have been proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Having resolved all the issues against the appellants, it is abundantly clear that the appeal is devoid of any scintilla of merit and it is accordingly dismissed, the court ruled.

Other members of the panel include Justices Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, Sylvester Ngwuta, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Inyang Okoro, Amina Augie, Uwani Abba-Aji.

Mr Wada approached the Supreme Court after his petition was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on July 4th, 2020 with a split decision of two to one.

KanyiDaily recalls that the INEC had returned Yahaya Bello as the duly elected Kogi governor on November 18, 2019, having scored the highest number of votes in the poll.

You may be interested

Ogunmodede Vows To Break Ghana ‘Curse’ In CHAN 2024 Decider
Sports
Sports

Ogunmodede Vows To Break Ghana ‘Curse’ In CHAN 2024 Decider

Webby - December 28, 2024

Super Eagles B Assistant Coach, Daniel Ogunmodede, has vowed that the team will break Ghana’s ‘curse’ in Saturday’s decisive CHAN…

Arsenal Move Up To Second After 1-0 Win Vs Ipswich
Sports
Sports

Arsenal Move Up To Second After 1-0 Win Vs Ipswich

Webby - December 27, 2024

A Kai Havertz first half strike earned Arsenal a hard-fought 1-0 win against struggling Ipswich in Friday’s Premier League game.The…

Exclusive – CHAN 2024Q: Yusuf Vows ‘Christmas Gift’ Victory Over Ghana For Nigeria
Sports
4 views
Sports
4 views

Exclusive – CHAN 2024Q: Yusuf Vows ‘Christmas Gift’ Victory Over Ghana For Nigeria

Webby - December 26, 2024

Anas Yusuf, the Super Eagles B forward, has emphasised the significance of Saturday’s Championship of African Nations (CHAN) 2024 qualification…

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.