The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed Usman Ododo as the duly elected governor of Kogi State. In a judgment delivered on Thursday, a three-member panel dismissed the petition filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its governorship candidate, Murtala Ajaka.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Ododo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the Kogi governorship election held on November 11, 2023. Ododo secured 446,237 votes, defeating Ajaka, who received 259,052 votes, and Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 46,362 votes.

Following the election, the SDP and Ajaka filed petitions challenging Ododo’s victory. They alleged that Ododo was not qualified to contest due to certificate forgery and claimed that his sponsorship by the APC was invalid and unconstitutional.

Additionally, they argued there was over-voting and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act, and sought the court to declare the votes cast for the APC and Ododo as “wasted votes.” They also prayed for the withdrawal of Ododo’s certificate of return and the declaration of Ajaka as the winner, or alternatively, a supplementary poll excluding the APC and its candidate.

In its unanimous verdict, the court held that the issues of forgery and non-qualification were pre-election matters. The tribunal also found that the petitioners failed to provide credible evidence to substantiate their allegations of over-voting and had abandoned 96.4 percent of their case. It noted that none of the 25 witnesses called by the petitioners were polling officers or polling unit agents.

Dissatisfied with the tribunal’s decision, the SDP and Ajaka approached the Court of Appeal.

However, the appellate court concurred with the lower court’s verdict, stating that the issue of alleged certificate forgery should have been addressed at a federal high court as a pre-election matter. The court concluded that the appellants could not prove their case beyond reasonable doubt.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal upheld Ododo’s election as governor.