Posted by On Saturday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was directed by the Kogi governorship election petition tribunal to furnish certified copies of the materials utilized in the State’s election on November 11.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) requested the materials from the electoral authority within 48 hours after the tribunal made that request.
The materials contain result sheets for the state’s Adavi, Okene, Okehi, Ogori-Magongo, Ajaokuta, Lokoja, Kogi, and Bassa Local Government Areas (LGAs) as well as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
Ado Birnin-Kudu, the tribunal’s chairman, issued the ruling in response to two ex-parte motions that the SDP and its governorship candidate, Murtala Yakubu-Ajaka, filed on November 19.
John Adele, the lead attorney for SDP and Ajaka, informed the court that attempts to get certified copies of materials used in six LGAs of the State from INEC were unsuccessful.
Since time is of the importance in this case, we filed the motions with your lordship in an attempt to save the situation.
Since November 13, whenever we have gone to INEC, their representatives have never been able to provide us with a single piece of the election supplies we have asked for.
Adele stated, “We are confident that INEC will take the necessary action to allow us to prosecute this case within the time limit if your lordship grants our application.”
Additionally, the petition tribunal directed INEC to permit SDP’s forensic specialists to look over some of the election-related materials.
“The order complies with the Electoral Act of 2022 and the Nigerian Constitution of 1999, as amended.”
“In order to ensure that the hearings progress without a hitch, INEC is thus ordered to furnish all the papers being sought by the plaintiffs within 48 hours.” Birnin-Kudu stated
The tribunal postponed the case to November 29 in order to allow INEC to submit a report on compliance and to continue the hearing.
Usman Ododo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, is facing opposition from the SDP and Ajaka.
With 446,237 votes, INEC pronounced Ododo the winner of the election held on November 11. Yakubu-Ajaka received 259,052 votes, placing her in second place.