Kogi Guber: Again Ajaka Losses as Appeal Court Affirms Gov Ododo’s Election 

Alex Enumah in Abuja 

Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Murtala Ajaka, on Thursday lost at the Court of Appeal, in his bid to unseat Governor Ahmed Ododo as Governor of Kogi State.

Ododo had few months back also lost at the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal, where he had first challenged the declaration of Ododo and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the November 11, 2023, governorship election in Kogi State.

Delivering judgement in Ajaka and his party’s appeal against the judgement of the tribunal, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in a judgement delivered by Justice Onyekachi Otisi, held that the appellants could not provide credible evidence that the judgement of the tribunal was perverse.

Besides, the appellate court held that the issue of forgery against Ododo was a pre-election matter, which was outside the jurisdiction of the court.

Meanwhile, the appellate court said the tribunal which sat in Abuja was right to have expunged the evidence of the first witness called by the petitioners for been hearsay documents.

According to the court, the allegation of forgery of document which Ododo submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is a pre-election matter which is handled by the Federal High Court and not the Tribunal.

Having resolved all the issues raised in the appeal against the appellants, the court dismissed the appeal for lacking in merit and upheld the judgement of the Tribunal.

It would be recalled that the tribunal had, on May 27, affirmed the victory of Governor Ododo of APC in the November 11, 2023 Kogi governorship poll.

The three-member panel of justices, held that the petition was bereft of substance and accordingly dismissed it.

Dissatisfied, Ajaka and his party had appealed the judgement of the tribunal. However, the appellate court in its judgement held that the appeal lacked merit and subsequently dismissed it.