Supreme Court Affirms Diri, Ododo, Uzodimma As Governors

The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Douye Diri, Ahmed Usman Ododo and Hope Uzodimma as the validly elected governors of Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states, respectively.

The apex court in separate judgments yesterday in Abuja dismissed the appeals brought before it by their opponents.

In Bayelsa State, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC, Timipre Sylvia, and his party lost their appeal against Diri.

In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Garba Lawal, the apex court held that Sylvia and APC’s appeal was not only lacking merit but also a gross abuse of court process.

The unanimous decision of the apex court upheld the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal and the Election Petition Tribunal.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja, in a unanimous judgement on July 18, affirmed the decision of the Bayelsa Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld the November 11, 2023, re-election of Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State.

In the judgement, a three-man panel of the appellate court dismissed an appeal brought before the Court by Timipre Sylva and APC seeking to set aside the tribunal’s decision.

The Justice Adekunle Adeleye-led three-member tribunal dismissed the petition against Governor Diri’s re-election by the APC and its candidate on May 27 for lacking merit.

The apex court declared Kogi State Governor Usman Ahmed Ododo the election winner.

The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by the SDP for lacking in merit and substance.

A lead judgment delivered by Justice Sadiq Umar threw out the appeal of Ajaka after resolving all three issues in dispute against him.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court held that Ajaka failed to provide cogent and verifiable evidence in the allegations against Ododo.

Besides, Justice Umar said that most of the allegations were pre-election matters that ought to have been resolved by the Federal High Court before the election.

The Supreme Court consequently dismissed the appeal but did not award cost against the appellants.

Justice Umar upheld the decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal, which had earlier dismissed Ajaka’s grievances against the election.

Similarly, the two separate appeals brought to the Supreme Court by the Labour Party LP and the People’s Democratic Party against the declaration of Uzodinma, as the elected governor of Imo State, were also dismissed.

Shortly after the judgement was delivered, the governor lauded the apex court for a well-researched judgement and dedicated it to the state’s people.

The Supreme Court rejected the appeals of the LP governorship candidate, Athan Achonu, and that of PDP, Samuel Anyanwu, for want of merit. Consequently, it upheld Uzodinma as a lawfully elected governor.

In the lead judgment, Mohammed Baba Idris said the LP and PDP gubernatorial candidates failed to establish the allegations of over-voting and other malpractices in the November 11, 2023 poll.

The apex court’s unanimous decisions upheld the earlier decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Imo State Governorship Election Petition, which sat in Abuja and dismissed the petitions in separate judgements.

In a statement, the governor said, “A few hours ago, the Supreme Court confirmed me as the duly elected governor of Imo State, arising from the November 11th, 2023 governorship election.

“It is, therefore, with a heart full of gratitude that I thank God Almighty for granting me another victory after I had also emerged victorious at the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal,” he said.