The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja issued an order allowing the Social Democratic Party’s (SDP) candidate in the November 2023 Kogi election to view election materials, and the Supreme Court has upheld that decision.
Remember that the inspection order was thrown aside by the apex court, which also halted the Court of Appeal in Abuja’s instructions from being carried out.
In November of last year, the Tribunal issued an ex parte ruling that, among other things, permitted the SDP and Murtala Ajaka, their candidate for Kogi governorship in the 2023 election, to conduct a forensic analysis of every Bimodal Voters Accreditation system (BVAS) that was utilized during the election.
However, the inspection order was overturned by a three-judge Court of Appeal panel led by Justice J.O.K. Oyewole in their decision on March 1, 2024.
On Thursday, however, the supreme court affirmed the trial court’s ruling and dismissed the Court of Appeal’s ruling.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in a decision read by Justice Emmanuel Akomoye Agim that the trial court’s order fell under section 146 of the Electoral Act.
“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.
“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,” the court held.
