Supreme Court Victory: Andas, Amoka jubilate with Governor Bello »

The Chairman of Kogi State House of Assembly Service Commission, Alhaji Abdulmalik Andas and Clerk of the House, Alhaji Ibrahim Amoka have congratulated Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello on his Landslide Victory at the Supreme Court.

In their separate remarks, they expressed gratitude to God for the legal battle for the occupancy of the governor’s seat that has finally come to an end with the pronouncement of the supreme Court declaring Governor Yahaya Bello as the duly elected Governor in the November sixteenth gubernatorial election.

The victory they noted didn’t come as a surprise given the commitment of the Governor and his Deputy, Chief Edward Onoja in birthing a new Kogi State where Peace, Unity and development thrives.

They called on all aggrieved candidates in the election to forget the past and close ranks with the leadership of the State to build the Kogi State all have yearned for.

According to them, with more collective efforts the State would yet witnessed accelerated growth with the efforts already put in place by the present administration.

While thanking the people of the State for their patience and steadfastness in the collective efforts to make the state great, they noted that the future would record more infrastructural development as being witnessed in the electrification of Kogi East, ongoing road construction in major parts of the State, the proposed Confluence University of Science and Technology as well as the reference hospital at the Central among other projects of interest.

They call for more prayers and support for the Leaders of the State in their quest to ensure accelerated development of the Kogi State

The Supreme Court today in Abuja upheld the election of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State putting an end to all the litigation against his election on November 16, 2019.
The seven man panel of the Supreme Court Justices in a unanimous judgement said the November Governorship Election that took place in the State was substantially compliant with the provisions of the electoral act.

The apex court, dismissed the appeal by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Musa Wada, who challenged the outcome of the gubernatorial election that held in the state last year.

It upheld the earlier judgement of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which had on July 4, dismissed the case of the PDP and its candidate, and validated the majority decision of the Kogi State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal that affirmed governor Bello’s election victory.
Though the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko, led the seven-man panel that heard the case of the appellants, the lead judgement was however prepared by Justice Inyang Okoro and read by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji.

The apex court said it was satisfied that the the Court of Appeal neither denied the Appellants fair hearing, nor wrongly evaluated their case against the outcome of the Kogi State governorship poll.

“The appellants failed to prove before this court why it should disturb the concurrent findings of the two courts below”, Justice Okoro held in the lead verdict.

The apex court stressed that the Appellants failed to substantiate their case, noting that they adduced evidence with respect to only 24 out of the 729 polling units in the state.
“It is abundantly clear that this appeal is devoid of any scintilla of merit and it is accordingly dismissed.

In their petition at the tribunal marked EPT/KG/GOV/06/2019, they sought the annulment of governor Bello’s re-election, alleging that he rigged himself back to office.

The appellants alleged that the election was invalid by reason of widespread electoral malpractices, violence and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
They prayed the court to nullify the Certificate of Return that was issued to governor Bello by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and declare that Wada scored majority of votes cast at the election and fulfilled requirements of section 179(2)(a) and (b) of the Constitution.
Alternatively, the Petitioners prayed for an order directing INEC to conduct supplementary election in polling units where elections were cancelled, noting that the margin of lead between the 2nd Respondent and the 1st Petitioner, was Iess than the registered voters in the cancelled polling units.

They further sought a declaration that the Kogi governorship election that held on November 16, 2019, and the subsequent declaration and return of the 2nd Respondent (Bello), were voided by corrupt practices in breach of the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010 (As amended), which substantially affected the results of the election.

In their further alternative prayer, the appellants, urged the court to order a fresh election in Kogi State.
However, in its judgement, the Supreme Court, 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.