Daily Trust

S/Court reserves judgments in Kogi, Bayelsa, Imo gov’ship appeals

Rejects Ajaka’s request for full panel Imposes N9m fine against Accord, APM in petitions against Uzodinma

The Supreme Court has reserved judgments in the appeals challengin­g the governorsh­ip elections held on November 11, 2023, in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo states.

A five-member panel of justices, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, announced the decision on Monday after hearing arguments from the involved parties.

Earlier in the proceeding­s, the panel rejected a request by Muritala Ajaka, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorsh­ip candidate in Kogi State, to have a full panel of seven justices hear his appeal against Governor Usman Ododo.

Ajaka’s counsel, Pius Akubo (SAN), had sought the CJN’s approval for a full panel, citing specific sections of their legal brief.

However, Justice Garba ruled that a five-member panel was sufficient to determine appeals related to governorsh­ip elections, given their jurisdicti­onal authority and the timebound nature of election petitions.

The panel’s decision was „ supported by Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), who argued against the request and pointed out that the Supreme Court had previously affirmed the sufficienc­y of a fivemember panel for such cases.

The panel also addressed various

applicatio­ns to regularise aspects of the appeals and set a date for the judgments.

Imo

In the Imo governorsh­ip cases, the Supreme Court dismissed appeals filed by the Accord Party

(AP) and Allied Peoples Movement (APM) challengin­g the election of Governor Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressiv­es Congress (APC) for lack of merit.

The court ordered the AP to pay N1 million each to the Independen­t

National Electoral Commission (INEC), APC, and Uzodinma to cover the costs of their responses to the appeal. Similarly, the APM was ordered to pay N2 million each to INEC, APC, and Uzodinma.

The panel had earlier reserved judgment on appeals by the Labour Party (LP) governorsh­ip candidate, Athan Achonu and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against Uzodinma’s election.

Bayelsa

Regarding the Bayelsa State appeal, the Supreme Court reserved judgment after hearing arguments from the legal representa­tives of APC’s Timipre Sylva, Governor Duoye Diri, INEC, and the PDP.

Sylva, represente­d by Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), requested that the Supreme Court overturn the previous judgments by the Bayelsa State Governorsh­ip Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal. He argued that the declaratio­n of Diri by INEC as the winner should be invalidate­d and he should be declared the lawful winner.

In contrast, Governor Diri’s counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), argued that Sylva’s appeal was fundamenta­lly flawed and unsupporte­d by evidence. He maintained that the appeal lacked merit and should be dismissed. This position was echoed by INEC and the PDP, represente­d by Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), who also argued against the appeal’s validity.