November 25, (THEWILL) – The Kogi Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Lokoja, on Saturday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to issue certified copies of electoral materials on the November 11 off-cycle election in the state to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) within 48 hours.
It also ordered INEC to allow SDP’s forensic experts to examine some electoral materials.
The materials include the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and result sheets for Adavi, Okene, Okehi, Ogori-Magongo, Ajaokuta, Lokoja, Kogi and Bassa Local Government Areas.
According to the tribunal, the SDP requested the materials to prove its case in the petition it filed against the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC), at the election.
Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu gave the order following two ex-parte motions filed on Nov. 19 by the SDP and its governorship candidate, Muritala Yakubu-Ajaka.
“The order is in compliance with Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended) and with the Electoral Act (2022). INEC is hereby ordered to produce all the documents, being sought by the plaintiffs within 48 hours to enable proceedings to go smoothly and without hitches”, Justice Birnin-Kudu declared.
Lead counsel to the petitioners, John Adele (SAN), had earlier told the court that efforts made to obtain certified copies of materials used in the six local government areas from INEC had been fruitless.
“Time is of the essence in this matter, and that is why we filed the motions to your lordship, to help to salvage the situation. Each time we approached INEC since November 13, its officials failed to avail us with even one of the electoral materials, for which we requested.
“We believe that if your lordship grants our application, INEC will do the needful to enable us to prosecute this case within the time limit”, he prayed the tribunal.
Justice Birnin-Kudu, adjourned the case to Wednesday, November 29, for the submission of the report of compliance by INEC and continuation of the hearing.
The SDP and Yakubu-Ajaka are challenging the victory of APC and its candidate, Usman Ododo at the election petition tribunal.
INEC declared Ododo as the winner of the election with 446,237 votes, while his closest rival, Yakubu-Ajaka got 259,052 votes.
