Kogi Guber: Supreme Court Decides on SDP’s Candidate Ajaka’s Request To Inspect BVAS

• Murtala Ajaka has been permitted to inspect the materials used in the Kogi state governorship election held in November 2023
• The Apex court upheld Ajaka's request and declared null and void the appeal court's earlier request
• Justice Emmanuel Agim, ruled in favour of Ajaka; in the lead judgment read, he held that the order of the Kogi governorship election tribunal was within the scope of section 146 of the electoral Act

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

On Thursday, March 14, the Supreme Court upheld the request by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate in Kogi state, Murtala Ajaka, to inspect materials used for the Saturday, November 11, 2023 governorship election.

The lead judgment, read on Thursday by Justice Emmanuel Agim, voided the earlier ruling of the Court of Appeal stopping the inspection.

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The apex court upheld the judgment of the Kogi governorship tribunal which permitted the SDP candidate to inspect election materials, The Cable reported.

“In light of the foregoing, this appeal is allowed, and the cross-appeal dismissed with no costs,” Agim held.

Thursday's judgement

As reported by Daily Trust, the judge held that the order made on November 25, 2023, by the Kogi election tribunal permitting the forensic examination of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) from some local government areas was within its powers.

The apex court dismissed the cross-appeal filed by Governor Usman Ododo and the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN) because the governor’s decision to stay away was a self-inflicted injury.

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Why is Ajaka in court?

Ajaka and the SDP, are challenging the outcome of the election on the grounds of widespread irregularities, overvoting and non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

Ahmed Usman-Ododo, the flagbearer of the APC, won the November 11 governorship election in Kogi state. Ododo garnered 446,237 votes to defeat his closest rival, Murtala Ajaka, who scored 259,052. Coming third is Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with 46,362.

'Accreditation data on IReV not manipulated' - INEC

Legit.ng reported that INEC on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, refuted allegations that accreditation data on its result viewing (IReV) portal was manipulated during the Kogi governorship election.

INEC in a statement by Mohammed Kudu Haruna, national commissioner and member of the Information and Voter Education Committee, said media reports that it tampered with the accredited figures of voters in the Kogi governorship election results uploaded on the IReV portal "are unfounded".

Source: Legit.ng