Kogi Guber: Supreme Court Sets to Rule on Actual Winner On Monday

The Supreme Court Sitting in Abuja, would on Monday decide on the winner of the last November Kogi Governoship Election.

Recall that the Peoples Democratic Party candidate Engr Musa Wada had challenged the outcome of the election with the claim that the 2nd and 3rd Respondents did not win the Kogi State Election by a majority of the lawful votes cast.

The matter was decided in favour of the APC and Gov. Yahaya Bello in a split decision of two to one Justices at the Tribunal, a decision that made the PDP head to the Appeal Court.

At the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, the court had earlier dismissed the petition, said declaration of elections by INEC are presumed correct unless proven otherwise.

The court said the PDP only pursued its petition on one ground, says the burden to rebut the presumption arising from INEC’s declaration that Yahaya Bello and the APC won the last Kogi State Gubernatorial Elections could not be established.

The court said the appellants also needed to prove that the declared winners did not score the majority of the lawful votes cast.

According to Appeal Court Justices, the results of any polling unit where overvoting is alleged and proven will be cancelled but new elections can only be ordered if it is further proved that the results of that polling unit, if removed from the overall results, will change the outcome of the election.

The court said the appellants did not link their documents to their claims,  merely dumped it on the Tribunal, said the Tribunal was right to treat them as having no evidentiary value, as they could not prove acts of alterations or how the alleged alterations affected the overall results of the election.

On the issues of Multiple thumb-printing that was pleaded under corrupt practices. The Appeal Court held that the allegation was subsequently abandoned to all intents and purposes. Evidence in that regard goes to no issue, including that of PW19 – the expert witness.

Expert evidence is only required where the expert can furnish the court with scientific and other technical evidence which must be outside the knowledge of the judge. It is apparent that expert evidence may be  admissible but not indispensable.


PW19 claimed to be acting on the order of the court but under cross-examination it became clear that he had been acting with the appellant long before the order of the Tribunal for him to get involved. PW19 exceeded his mandate to determine fingerprints when he went over and beyond to engage in counting of ballots. He also admitted that he is not a fingerprint expert. Also none of the other so-called experts who allegedly examined the documents with him signed the report and no reason was given for this. The trial Tribunal was right in rejecting his report.

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The Court of Appeal therefore dismissed PDP’s petition with costs of N100,000.

Still not satisfied, the PDP candidate headed to the Supreme Court, with judgement coming up on Monday