Supreme court dismisses Ajaka’s appeal, affirms Ododo as Kogi governor
In a unanimous judgment, the apex court upheld the decision of the court of appeal that affirmed the election of Ododo on May 27.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the appeal of Murtala Ajaka, candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and affirmed the election of Usman Ododo as the governor of Kogi state.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Ododo, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the Kogi State governorship election which held on November 11, 2023.
Ododo polled 446,237 votes to defeat Ajaka, who came second with 259,052 votes.
In a unanimous judgment, the apex court upheld the decision of the court of appeal that affirmed the election of Ododo on May 27.
The five-man panel held that the allegation of substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act was not proven by the SDP candidate.
The panel added 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.
