The Kogi SDP Governorship Candidate for the last Kogi Gubernatorial Election, Barr. Natasha Hadiza Akpoti and her party SDP have vehemently rejected and condemned the Appeal Court verdict on the Kogi Governorship Election Petition earlier similarly dismissed by the trial Tribunal on the 18th of May 2020, noting that both the Tribunal and the Appeal Court deviated from the position of the electoral act and technically ignored evidences and facts in their respective Verdicts.
Akpoti in an interview granted on Channels television on Tuesday 8 July 2020 described the verdict by appeal panel as faulty, unfair and funny in the eyes of law and stipulated guidelines for the conduct of Elections in Nigeria. She maintained that the SDP’s Petition relied on section 138 subsection 1 of the Electoral Act 2010 which stipulates six grounds upon which a petition can be presented. The grounds include; (a) that a person whose election is questioned was, at the
time of the election, not qualified to contest the
election; (b) that the election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or noncompliance with the provisions of the Act; (c) that the respondent was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election; or (d) that the petitioner or its candidate was validly nominated but was unlawfully excluded from the election.
She stated further that her Petition was presented on the grounds of omission of SDP from result sheets and alteration of election results; violence; over voting; and falsification of birth certificate and biodata by the APC deputy governorship candidate, Edward Onoja, all of which are issues raised by the provisions of section 138 subsection 1 as above and subsection 2 which explicitly mention act of omission as a ground for questioning an election.
Akpoti noted that out of 2,458 polling units in Kogi State, in 989 polling units, no score was recorded for SDP. “In other polling units SDP’s name and results were haphazardly recorded with charcoal, crayon, pencils haphazardly in a manner that does not reflect what my party had scored.” Akpot added.
These among other issues formed the grounds upon which she prayed that the election be declared marred with gross malpractices, violence and irregularities and hence be nullified while a fresh election is conducted. She also prayed for an order directing Governor Yahaya Bello and his deputy to vacate the seat immediately.
Going forward, Akpoti expressed confidence in getting justice at the Supreme Court as she maintained there was a foul play in the Tribunal and Appeal Court rulings that technically ignored her clear evidences and the many other facts contained in her petition.