The Kogi governorship election petition tribunal has ordered
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide certified
copies of materials used in the conduct of the November 11 off-cycle election
in the state.
The tribunal asked the electoral umpire to provide the
materials to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) within 48 hours.
The materials include Bimodal Voter Accreditation System
(BVAS) and result sheets for Adavi, Okene, Okehi, Ogori-Magongo, Ajaokuta,
Lokoja, Kogi and Bassa LGAs of the state.
Ado Birnin-Kudu, chairman of the tribunal, gave the order on
Saturday following two ex-parte motions filed on November 19 by the SDP and
Murtala Yakubu-Ajaka, its governorship candidate.
John Adele, lead counsel to SDP and Ajaka, told the court
that efforts made to obtain certified copies of materials used in six LGAs of
the state from INEC was futile.
“Time is of essence in this matter, and that was why we
filed the motions to your lordship to help to salvage the situation,” Adele
said.
“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.”
The tribunal also ordered INEC to allow SDP’s forensic
experts to examine some electoral materials.
“The order is in compliance with Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution
(as amended) and with the Electoral Act (2022),” NAN quoted Birnin-Kudu as
saying.
“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.”
The tribunal adjourned the case to November 29 for
submission of report of compliance by INEC and continuation of the hearing.
The SDP and Ajaka are challenging the victory of Usman
Ododo, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
INEC declared Ododo as winner of the November 11 election
with 446,237 votes, while Yakubu-Ajaka came second with 259,052 votes.
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