Kogi: Tension as Supreme Court decides Bello, Wada, Akpoti’s fate today

The Supreme Court will deliver two judgments in the appeals challenging the outcome of the November 16, 2019 governorship election in Kogi State today.

After throwing out the appeal filed by the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and its candidate, Usman Mohammed, the apex court will deliver its verdict on the two surviving appeals on the dispute over whether or not the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC),  Governor Yahaya Bello, was lawfully returned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as winner of the November 16, 2019 election.

In the appeal filed by the PDP marked SC/CV/388/2020, its candidate, Musa Wada, is seeking the reversal of the judgment of both the election tribunal and the Court of Appeal.

The second appeal was filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its candidate, Natasha Akpoti, who is equally praying for the reversal of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the decisions of the election tribunal affirming Bello’s victory at the poll.

At the last hearing, counsel to the DPP,  M. S. Ibrahim applied to withdraw the case realising that his clients’ case would not fly. The appellants had challenged INEC’s disqualification of DPP’s candidate, who was said to be 31 years old as against the 35 years allowed by law.

On Ibrahim’s oral application for withdrawal, the court’s seven-man panel led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, struck out the appeal and awarded N200,000 cost in favour of the APC and Bello.

The apex court had after taking arguments canvassed for and against the two appeals, adjourned till today for judgment in both appeals. (Daily Sun)