Nigerian Supreme Court has finally laid to rest the legal tussles that characterised the Kogi State governorship election of November 16, 2019.
The apex court on Monday affirmed the election of Yaya Bello as Kogi State governor and dismissed the appeals of the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Musa Wada and the Socialist Democratic Party (SDP) and its candidate, Natasha Akpoti against the election of Bello as governor of the state.
The Supreme Court in a unanimous judgment dismissed Musa’s and Natasha’s appeals for lacking in merit.
It upheld the decisions of the Court of Appeal and the majority judgment of the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
The lead judgment, read by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, held that the appellants were unable to prove allegations of electoral malpractices in the November 16 governorship election.
The apex court held that failure of the appellants to call polling units agents was fatal to their case, adding that the appellants merely dumped documents that could not be attached probate value.
Other members of the panel who also agreed with the lead judgments are the CJN, Justice Tanko Muhammad, Justice Okoro , Justices Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, Sylvester Ngwuta, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, and Amina Augie.