Breaking: Supreme Court Affirms Yahaya Bello As The Winner Of Kogi Election

The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Governor Yahaya Bello as the authentic governor of Kogi state. Justice Kekere Ekun who pronounced the judgement said Honourable James Faleke’s appeal lacks merit and thereby dismissed. She also said that the ruling of the lower court dismissing his appeal earlier is upheld. The seven panel of judges who unanimously agreed to the judgement said reasons for the judgement will be given on September 30. Likewise, the appeal by a former governor of Kogi state Idris Wada has been dismissed. Today’s judgement on the November 2015 Kogi gubernatorial comes after series of appeals filed on the matter by the different parties involved. Bello’s emergence as the Kogi state governor came after a former governor of the state and the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag bearer Audu Abubakar died almost at the end of the election. Abubakar’s death among many others led to the declaration of the Kogi election as inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Following this, Abubakar’s running mate James Faleke demanded he be automatically declared winner following his principal’s demise. Faleke premised his demand on the fact that Bello only came second in the APC primary election and was never part of the main election. Meanwhile, the former Kogi state governor Idris Wada had also argued that he should be declared the winner of the November 2015 Kogi election, since the APC lost its candidate, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got the second highest votes after Abubakar’s.