The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, has on Tuesday affirmed Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan as the duly elected candidate for Kogi Central Senatorial Election earlier in February.
The three-member panel upheld the judgment of the State’s election tribunal and dismissed the appeal filed by Sen. Abubakar Ohere of the All Progressives Congress.
The Tribunal Chairman, Justice K. A. Orjiako delivered the unanimous judgment of the three-man panel, revealing that Sen. Ohere’s results were inflated in nine polling units in the Ajaokuta Local Government Area.
He added that the Independent National Electoral Commission reduced Natasha’s results in those areas and omitted the results of three other polling units meant for Natasha in the same LGA.
Following the necessary corrections, the court declared Natasha as the winner of the election with 54,074 votes, surpassing Ohere, who garnered 51,291 votes.
Dissatisfied with the judgement, Ohere approached the Court of Appeal seeking to upturn the election.
However, the court further upheld Natasha as the winner of the poll.
The court dismissed the appeal filed by Abubakar Ohere for lacking in merit.
In early September, Ohere of the All Progressives Congress ,APC, was declared the winner of the Kogi Central Senatorial Election, but this was later overturned by the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal, which was based in Lokoja.
The Peoples Democratic Party’s, PDP Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan was further proclaimed by the court to be the true victor of the February senatorial election.
Ohere had, nevertheless, gone to the appellate court to seek remedies, but the court maintained Akpoti-Uduagan’s victory in the poll.
More to follow…
Crediblenews.ng
