Supreme Court Upholds Ododo’s Election as Kogi State Governor

The Supreme Court of Nigeria, on Friday, August 23, 2024, declared Ahmed Usman Ododo as the duly elected Governor of Kogi State.

This ruling concludes the legal proceedings challenging the outcome of the November 11, 2023, governorship election in Kogi State.

In a judgment authored and delivered by Justice Sadiq Umar, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court affirmed the election of Ododo, who ran on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The court dismissed the appeal filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its candidate, Yakubu Muritala Ajaka, under case number SC/CV/654/2024, stating that the appeal lacked merit.

All three issues identified for determination in the appeal were resolved against the appellants.

Additionally, the Supreme Court dismissed a separate appeal filed by the Action Alliance (AA) and its candidate, Olayinka Baimoh, which sought to nullify Ahmed Usman Ododo’s victory in the governorship election.

In delivering the judgment for this appeal, marked SC/CV/653/2024, the Supreme Court panel ruled that the appeal was incompetent because the notice of appeal had been filed beyond the 14-day period allowed by law for such filings.

Justice Sadiq Umar, reading the lead judgment, stated that since the preliminary objection regarding the appeal’s competence was valid, there was no need to consider the other issues raised in the appeal.

The court dismissed the appeal and awarded a cost of ₦5 million against the appellants in favor of the respondents.

With this decision, the legal battle over the governorship of Kogi State has been decisively concluded in favor of Ahmed Usman Ododo.