The Supreme Court on Tuesday, September 20, 2016, upheld the election of Yahaya Bello as Governor of Kogi State, bringing another legal challenge to his victory to an end.
A seven-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, delivered its decision after hearing arguments from counsel representing the parties involved in the case.
Bello’s victory had been challenged by James Faleke, the running mate to the late Abubakar Audu, who was the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the 2015 Kogi governorship election.
Audu died before the final declaration of the election results, prompting a major legal and political dispute over the APC ticket and the eventual emergence of Bello as the party’s candidate for the supplementary poll.
Faleke had maintained that he ought to have been declared governor-elect following Audu’s death, leading him to challenge the outcome of the election through the courts.
His case had earlier suffered a setback at the Court of Appeal, where a five-member panel of justices on August 4, 2016, unanimously upheld the decision of the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissing his petition.
Dissatisfied with the appellate court’s ruling, Faleke proceeded to the Supreme Court, asking the apex court to overturn the judgment and recognise his claim to the governorship.
After considering the submissions of the various parties, the seven-member Supreme Court panel dismissed the challenge and upheld Bello’s election victory.
The judgment effectively reinforced Bello’s position as the duly elected governor of Kogi State, following months of legal battles over the controversial circumstances surrounding the 2015 governorship election.
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