Supreme Court affirms Ododo’s election as Kogi governor

The Supreme Court has confirmed Governor Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the rightful winner of the Kogi State governorship off-cycle election held on November 11, 2023.

Mr. Murtala Ajaka, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate who contested the election results, filed an appeal, which the Supreme Court dismissed.

In a unanimous judgment, the Apex Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision on May 27, which affirmed Ododo’s election.

The Supreme Court panel ruled that the SDP governorship candidate failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the claim of significant non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

Furthermore, the court stated that allegations of age falsification and certificate forgery were raised before the election and fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.

The Supreme Court therefore dismissed Ajaka’s appeal for lacking merit.

As reported by Persecondnews, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Ododo the winner of the Kogi State Governorship election held on November 11, 2023.

According to the State Returning Officer, Prof. Johnson Urama, Ododo secured 446,237 votes, surpassing his closest contender, Murtala Ajaka of the SDP, who garnered 259,052 votes.

Dino Melaye of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) recorded 46,362 votes to place third.

The petitioners, dissatisfied with the INEC-announced outcome, took their case to the tribunal, requesting a fresh election in five local government areas and seeking to overturn the election results.

However, the tribunal rejected their petition and upheld Ododo’s victory, ruling that the petitioners failed to provide evidence that the governor submitted a forged certificate, among other claims.