Supreme Court Reserves Judgment on Bayelsa and Kogi Governorship Election Appeals

The Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on appeals to nullify the results of the last governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States. A five-man panel led by Justice Garba Lawal adjourned to deliver judgments after all parties adopted their final briefs of argument. No dates for the verdict was announced.

In Bayelsa State

The All Progressives Congress, APC, gubernatorial candidate in Bayelsa, Chief Timipre Sylva, filed an appeal to invalidate the victory of Governor Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party, in the election of November 11, 2023. Both the election tribunal and court of appeal upheld his victory. Governor Diri urged the court to dismiss Sylva’s appeal, which he insisted was bereft of merit and uphold the verdicts of the lower courts.

The electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC had declared that Governor Diri of the PDP garnered a total of 175,196 votes to defeat his closest rival, Sylva of the APC, who polled 110,108 votes. Sylva accused INEC of wrongfully excluding results in three Local Government Areas (LGAs), arguing that the electoral body supervised the election, sent results from various polling units to the collation center, but at the collation center, decided to void some of the votes that favored him.

He also argued that Diri did not secure the most valid votes cast at the election and that the governor and his deputy infact were not even qualified to stand for the election.

In Kogi State

For the Kogi State gubernatorial election, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its candidate, Muritala Ajaka, filed an appeal against the victory of Governor Usman Ododo of APC.

Ajaka prayed the court to upturn the tribunal and appellate court verdicts, which dismissed his petition against Governor Ododo. Ajaka accused the APC candidate of tendering forged documents to INEC and alleged over-voting in at least five LGAs.

However, the tribunal faulted the competence of his case, expunging all evidence laid through witnesses and stressing that some testimonies was mere hearsay evidence.

The tribunal dismissed the petition and affirmed Ododo’s election victory, a judgment the appellate court also upheld.

In Nigeria, the Supreme Court holds the last say in electoral matters.

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