The supreme court has affirmed Usman Ododo as the duly elected governor of Kogi state.
The affirmation followed the dismissal of the appeal of Murtala Ajaka, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party who challenged the outcome of the election.
In a unanimous judgment on Friday, the Apex Court upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal which on the twenty-seventh of May affirmed the election of Ododo.
The five-man panel held that the allegation of substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act was not proven by the SDP governorship candidate.
The panel held that the appeal marked SC/CV/654/2024 was void of merit.
Sadiq Umar, who authored and read the lead judgment resolved all the three issues brought for determination in the appeal against the appellants.
It further stated 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.
The supreme court also dismissed the the appeal by the Action Alliance (AA) and its candidate, Olayinka Baimoh, against Ododo’s victory.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Ododo, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the Kogi governorship election held on November 11, 2023.
