By: Nwakaji Peace Martins
The Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, situated in Abuja, has scheduled May 27 as the date for delivering the judgment in the case brought forth by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its candidate for the governorship, Murtala Ajaka, contesting the victory of Usman Ododo in the November 11 Kogi state governorship election.
The panel of Justices, consisting of three members and presided over by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu, disclosed the aforementioned date on Thursday in Abuja through a message conveyed to the parties’ legal representatives by the secretary, David Mike, and subsequently shared with the press.
Kogi conducted an off-cycle election on November 11, 2023, wherein Ododo of the All Progressive Congress (APC) emerged victoriously by a significant margin over Ajaka of the SDP, his closest rival.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the election result, Ajaka filed a petition with the tribunal, challenging Ododo’s win.
The proceedings, which began in December 2023, reached a climax on May 13, when SDP, Ajaka, APC, Ododo, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presented their final written submissions, following which the Tribunal reserved its judgment on the petition.
INEC, Ododo, and APC requested the Tribunal to dismiss Ajaka and SDP’s petition entirely on grounds of incompetence and lack of merit.
During the adoption of their final written submissions and arguments against the petition, INEC, Ododo, and APC, represented by Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), Joseph Daudu (SAN), and Emmanuel Ukala (SAN) respectively, made this plea.
Chief Agabi, representing INEC, contended that the petition was devoid of merit and was incompetent, urging the court to either strike it out or dismiss it.
He cited recent judgments by the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court to assert that if the grounds of a petition are inconsistent or do not align with the reliefs sought, it should be dismissed.
Furthermore, he argued that the evidence provided by the petitioners was grossly inadequate, referencing a Supreme Court ruling in a case involving Tonye Cole against INEC.
Characterizing the case as frivolous, Chief Agabi implored the tribunal to strike out or dismiss the petition due to its incompetency.
Daudu, representing Ododo, also implored the tribunal to reject the petition entirely.
He contended that the petition was time-barred and urged the tribunal to dismiss the forgery allegations against his client, stating that it pertained to a pre-election matter, as decided by the apex court in Gbagi’s case against INEC.
Daudu also argued that Section 137 of the Electoral Act, cited by the petitioners regarding allegations of over-voting, was not applicable to the present petition.
Echoing Daudu’s assertions, Ukala, representing APC, urged the court to dismiss the petition for its lack of merit.
On the other hand, Pius Akubo (SAN), Ajaka’s legal representative, urged the Tribunal to disregard the respondents’ submissions and uphold their petition.
Disputing Daudu’s claim that the petition was filed out of time, Akubo argued that the respondents themselves acknowledged that the petition was filed on December 2, 2023, even by their own witness.
“I implore your lordship to affirm that we filed this petition within the stipulated time according to our laws,” he stated.
