The Supreme Court in a recent development affirmed the decision of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja, granting permission to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Murtala Ajaka, to inspect election materials from the November 2023 election in Kogi State.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Initially, the apex court had halted the enforcement of the Court of Appeal’s order, which had set aside the inspection directive.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Last November, the Tribunal had issued an ex parte order permitting the SDP and its governorship candidate to conduct a forensic examination of all the Bimodal Voters Accreditation system (BVAS) used during the election, among other reliefs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, on March 1, 2024, a three-man panel of justices at the Court of Appeal, led by Justice J.O.K. Oyewole, overturned the inspection order.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the Supreme Court, in its recent ruling, dismissed the Court of Appeal’s decision and upheld the trial court’s verdict.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Emmanuel Akomoye Agim, the Supreme Court affirmed that the trial court’s order fell within the ambit of section 146 of the Electoral Act.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The court stated, “Our position is that the motion seeking to set aside the Court of Appeal was wrong to have reversed the decision of the trial court that the motion seeking to set aside the decision of the trial Tribunal was incompetent.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“We do not agree with the Court of Appeal. The motion was filed out of time. Secondly, the order of the trial court was within the scope of section 146 of the Electoral Act. In light of the foregoing, this appeal is allowed, and the cross-appeal dismissed with no costs.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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