Governorship Tussle: Uzodinma, Diri, Ododo win at Supreme Court

By Ameh Ochojila, Sodiq Omolaoye (Abuja) and Ibrahim Obansa (Lokoja) Abuja 

24 August 2024   |   5:11 am

Ododo, Supporters Applaud Judgment

The Supreme Court, on Friday, affirmed the re-election of the governors of Imo and Bayelsa states, even as the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Yakubu Ajaka, failed in his bid to invalidate the November 11, 2023, election of Usman Ahmed Ododo as the Governor of Kogi State. 

 
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal filed by the SDP for lacking in merit and in substance.  A lead judgment delivered by Justice Sadiq Abubakar Umar threw out the appeal of Ajaka after resolving all the three issues in dispute against him. 
 
The Supreme Court unanimously decision held that Ajaka failed to give cogent and verifiable evidence in the series of allegations against Ododo.  Besides, Justice Umar said that most of the allegations were pre-election matters which ought to have been taken to the Federal High Court for resolution before the election. 
 
The Supreme Court consequently dismissed the appeal but did not award cost against the appellants.  Justice Umar upheld the decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal, which had earlier dismissed the grievances of Ajaka against the election. 
 
Similarly, the lead judgment delivered by Justice Garba Lawal affirmed the re-election of Bayelsa State governor, Duoye Diri, dismissing the appeal by Timipre Sylva, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11, 2023, off-cycle election.

The Supreme Court held that the appeal by Sylvia and APC was not only lacking in merit but a gross abuse of court process. The unanimous decision of the Supreme Court upheld the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal and the Election Petition Tribunal. 

 
Delivering judgment on Imo State governorship election, Justice Mohammed Baba Idris, held that the appeal against the victory of Hope Uzodinma of the APC was lacking in merit and accordingly dismissed the same. 
 
The two separate appeals brought by the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the declaration of Uzodinma as the elected governor of Imo state were dismissed. 
 
The appeals by the LP governorship candidate, Athan Achonu and that of PDP, Samuel Anyawu, were rejected for want of merit. The Supreme Court consequently upheld Uzodinma as the lawfully elected governor. 
 
In the lead judgment delivered by Idris, the court held that the LP and PDP gubernatorial candidates failed to establish allegations of over voting and other malpractices in the November 11,2023 poll. 
 
The unanimous decisions of the Supreme Court upheld the earlier decisions of the Court of Appeal and that of Imo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which sat in Abuja and dismissed the petitions in their separate judgments.
 
Addressing journalists at his residence in Abuja shortly after the Supreme Court ruling, Ododo commended the court for withstanding intimidation and delivering its judgment.
 
Describing the judiciary as the last hope of the common man, Ododo said: “I feel elated not just because of our victory but about how the judiciary held onto the point of the law and ensured justice in this matter. The judiciary remains the last hope of the common man. 
 
“They were threatened; they were called names; they were intimidated but they have held onto the point of law. This victory is not about me but for the people that trooped out on November 11, last year, to vote.”

 Meanwhile, residents of Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, trooped out in their numbers to celebrate the victory of the governor at the Supreme Court.