Kogi Guber: Why Natasha Akpoti May Nullify Gov Yahaya Bello's Election In Supreme Court
As the legal battle to decide the authentic winner of Kogi governorship election enters Supreme Court, there is need to look at the possibility of the SDP governorship candidate in the November 16 governorship election in Kogi State, Barr Natasha Akpoti, defeating Governor Yahaya Bello of APC and thereby nullify his election.
Natasha Akpoti who managed to score 9,482 votes to emerge second runner up of the election is praying for the Supreme Court to nullify the election of Governor Yahaya Bello and order for a fresh election in the state.
Natasha Akpoti's petition is based on two technical grounds put together by her legal team and believe the evidences are enough to nullify Yahaya Bello's election.
Her first technical ground upon which she is demanding for the cancellation of the entire election is based on the alleged age falsification of the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Edward Onoja who was the running mate of Yahaya Bello in the election.
Akpoti argued that there is a clear discrepancy in the date of birth of Edward Onoja which made him and his boss, Yahaya Bello not qualify in the first place and ought to have been disqualified by INEC on the ground that they have joint ticket.
Akpoti claimed that while the date of birth of Edward Onoja showed he was born "9th-8-74" in the documents he submitted to Guaranty Trust Bank, Port Harcourt branch when he was working as a banker, he added that the affidavit Onoja sworn to and submitted to INEC showed he was born 9th of August 1975.
According to her, this clear age discrepancy is enough for the election to be nullified because Onoja and Yahaya Bello had joint ticket.
While lamenting what he called "miscarriage of justice" at both Tribunal and Appeal Court, the female governorship candidate is confident of getting justice at the Apex Court.
The second ground of upon which Natasha Akpoti is seeking for the nullification of Yahaya Bello's election is what she termed "disrespect of court order by INEC".
Natsaha Akpoti argued that INEC did not include her party, SDP, on the ballot papers and the result sheets for the election.
Akpoti argued that INEC refused to obey the Abuja Federal High Court order which ordered it on November 7, 2019 to include her party on the ballot on the ground that INEC was wrong to have disqualified her in the first place.
She argued that the people of the state did not have the opportunity to vote for her as her party wasn't on the ballot paper, alleged that the 9,482 votes recorded for her was never the votes she scored on the election.
Akpoti is praying for the Supreme Court to nullify the election on the ground that INEC disobeyed the Federal High Court Order and infringed her right to participate on the election.
Although, Akpoti had lost on her bid to nullify Yahaya Bello's election at both Tribunal and Appeal Court. However, Akpoti who is relying on the precedence set by the Supreme Court judgment on the case of David Lyon of Bayelsa State whose election was nullified on the on the grounds that his deputy, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, presented false information to the INEC.
Natasha Akpoti is confident that the precedence set by Supreme Court on the case of David Lyon is enough for the Apex Court to nullify the election of Yahaya Bello and order for fresh election in Kogi State where her party will be included on the ballot papers.
Natasha Akpoti who managed to score 9,482 votes to emerge second runner up of the election is praying for the Supreme Court to nullify the election of Governor Yahaya Bello and order for a fresh election in the state.
Natasha Akpoti's petition is based on two technical grounds put together by her legal team and believe the evidences are enough to nullify Yahaya Bello's election.
Her first technical ground upon which she is demanding for the cancellation of the entire election is based on the alleged age falsification of the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Edward Onoja who was the running mate of Yahaya Bello in the election.
Akpoti argued that there is a clear discrepancy in the date of birth of Edward Onoja which made him and his boss, Yahaya Bello not qualify in the first place and ought to have been disqualified by INEC on the ground that they have joint ticket.
Akpoti claimed that while the date of birth of Edward Onoja showed he was born "9th-8-74" in the documents he submitted to Guaranty Trust Bank, Port Harcourt branch when he was working as a banker, he added that the affidavit Onoja sworn to and submitted to INEC showed he was born 9th of August 1975.
While lamenting what he called "miscarriage of justice" at both Tribunal and Appeal Court, the female governorship candidate is confident of getting justice at the Apex Court.
The second ground of upon which Natasha Akpoti is seeking for the nullification of Yahaya Bello's election is what she termed "disrespect of court order by INEC".
Natsaha Akpoti argued that INEC did not include her party, SDP, on the ballot papers and the result sheets for the election.
Akpoti argued that INEC refused to obey the Abuja Federal High Court order which ordered it on November 7, 2019 to include her party on the ballot on the ground that INEC was wrong to have disqualified her in the first place.
She argued that the people of the state did not have the opportunity to vote for her as her party wasn't on the ballot paper, alleged that the 9,482 votes recorded for her was never the votes she scored on the election.
Akpoti is praying for the Supreme Court to nullify the election on the ground that INEC disobeyed the Federal High Court Order and infringed her right to participate on the election.
Although, Akpoti had lost on her bid to nullify Yahaya Bello's election at both Tribunal and Appeal Court. However, Akpoti who is relying on the precedence set by the Supreme Court judgment on the case of David Lyon of Bayelsa State whose election was nullified on the on the grounds that his deputy, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, presented false information to the INEC.
Natasha Akpoti is confident that the precedence set by Supreme Court on the case of David Lyon is enough for the Apex Court to nullify the election of Yahaya Bello and order for fresh election in Kogi State where her party will be included on the ballot papers.
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