NEWS
Kogi Gov’ship: INEC, APC, Ododo ask Tribunal to Dismiss SDP’s Petition
INEC on Monday prayed the Kogi Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja to dismiss a petition filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and its candidate, Murtala Ajaka, against the victory of Gov. Usman Ododo.
Gov. Ododo and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), have also told the three-member panel of Justices, headed by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu, to dismiss the petition in its entirety for being incompetent and lacking in merit.
The trio, through their lawyers – Chief Kanu Agabi, Joseph Daudu and Emmanuel Ukala – stated this position while adopting their final written addresses and presenting their arguments against SDP and Ajaka’s petition.
However, Ajaka’s lawyer, Pius Akubo, have urged the tribunal to discountenance the respondents’ submissions and uphold their petition.
The tribunal, after listening to all the parties in the petition, reserved the matter for judgment.
It would be recalled that Ajaka had challenged Ododo’s victory in the Nov. 11, 2023 Kogi governorship poll.
In the petition, INEC, Ododo and APC are listed as 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents respectively.
The tribunal had, on April 25, fixed Monday for adoption of final written addresses after parties closed their case in the matter.
Upon resumed hearing, INEC’s counsel, Agabi told the court that their final written address was dated and filed on May 2.
He said the commission’s reply on point of law was dated May 8 and filed May 9.
While adopting the processes, the lawyer submitted that the petition lacked merit and was incompetent, urging the court to strike it out or dismiss it.
“It is our humble submission that your work in the determination of this petition is simplified in recent judgments by the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court,” he said.
He argued that the Appeal Court had decided that if the grounds of a petition are inconsistent with one another, and are not consistent with the reliefs, it should be struck out.
He also argued that the evidence of the petitioners were grossly insufficient, citing a Supreme Court decision in a case by Tonye Cole against INEC.
“It is to the effect that once the evidence called is grossly insufficient, there is no evidence.
“In that case, the petitioner filed 305 witness depositions but only adopted 40 of them.
“The petitioner, according to the decision, only adopted about 13.1 per cent of the witness depositions.
“In this case, the depositions adopted represent just about 3.6 per cent of their witness depositions,” he said.
He said the petitioners only called 25 witnesses out of the scores listed.
Agabi said that in a mathematical calculation of evidence, 3.6 per cent of Ajaka’s witness deposition adopted in the petition amounted to a failure and, therefore, ought to be dismissed.
The lawyer also described the case as “frivolous”.
He said the petitioners equally failed to file the witness deposition before hand in contravention of the Supreme Court’s decision in Obungado’s case.
He argued that the petitioners’ witness, who testified about the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines clearly stated that he could not guarantee whether those were the BVAS used.
Besides, he said the witness was not the maker of the inputs in the BVAS machines.
“Also, the evidence contained in the BVAS machines fell short of what is required of the law,” he added.
Agabi further argued that the BVAS machine was tendered against Section 84 of the Evidence Act, as there was no certificate of trustworthiness attached alongside it as required by the law.
He argued that out of the 25 witnesses called by the petitioners, there was no single polling unit agent among them.
“In other words, not a single person who observed the election was called.
“Besides, the star witness could not distinguish between what he heard and what he saw when questions were put to him,” he said.
The senior lawyer prayed the tribunal to strike out or dismiss the petition for being incompetent.
While adopting his final written address dated and filed on May 1, Daudu, who appeared for Gov. Ododo, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition in its entirety.
Adumbrating, he argued that the petition was statute barred (filed out of time).
The senior lawyer said that though the petitioners responded to their submission that “when it comes to filing, it is what the secretary of the tribunal says that determines the date of filing,” he, however, argued that the action of the petitioners was against Section 122(1) and (2)(a) of the Evidence Act, which empowers the tribunal to take judicial notice of this.
But Akubo objected to Daudu’s citing of the section, describing it as fresh argument.
Daudu, in response, disagreed with Akubo that he was raising fresh issues after a final written address had been filed.
“You cannot shut me out from making my comment. You cannot because you don’t have the power to do so,” he said.
He said if the court found merit in his argument, Akubo had the right to respond because it bordered on issues of remittal procedure.
He also urged the tribunal to dismiss the allegations of forgery against his client, saying it bordered on pre-election matter, which the apex court had decided in Gbagi’s case against INEC.
Daudu also argued that Section 137 of the Electoral Act cited by the petitioners on allegations of over-voting did not apply in the instant petition.
Also backing Daudu’s submission, Ukala, who represented APC, urged the court to dismiss the petition for lacking in merit.
The lawyer, who said their final written address, dated April 30 was filed same date, adopted all the processes.
The petitioners’ lawyer, Akubo, told the tribunal that their final written address was dated and filed May 6.
He disagreed with Daudu that their petition was filed out of time.
He argued that the respondents themselves confirmed that the petition was filed on December 2, 2023, even by their own witness.
“I urge your lordship to hold that we filed this petition within time under our law,” he said.
After taking the arguments, Justice Birnin-Kudu reserved judgment in the petition.
“The date will be communicated to both parties,” he said. (NAN)
By David Torough, Abuja
Award-winning Nigerian journalist and security analyst, Joseph Saater Undu, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Safety Personality Award at the 13th Nigeria Safety and Security (NSAS) Awards and Lecture, scheduled to hold on April 29, 2026, in Lagos.
The honour, organised by Safety & Security Watch Magazine under the auspices of the Media Centre for Promotion of Safety Awareness, is part of activities marking the International Labour Organization’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work.
According to the award selection panel, Undu was chosen in recognition of his “Outstanding contributions to health, safety, security and environment,” particularly through his investigative journalism and detailed reporting on criminality and national security issues.
The organisers also commended his deep understanding of Nigeria’s security architecture and his role in promoting public safety awareness.
With over 14 years of experience in mainstream journalism, Undu has built a reputation as a leading voice in crime, defence, and anti-corruption reporting.
He has worked with major national dailies, including Champion Newspapers, Vanguard Newspapers, and Daily Independent Newspapers, before transitioning to Abuja as a senior correspondent.
Undu is a Biographer and current president of Tiv Youth Organization (TYO) Abuja Chapter. He founder of the Benue Journalists’ Forum of Nigeria.
He is also an accomplished author, with works such as Positude: The Change We Need and Giant Footprints, a biography of former Inspector General of Police Usman Alkali Baba.
A recipient of the Golden Pen Award and an international poetry laureate, Undu has earned multiple recognitions for his contributions to media and literature.
In 2018, he was conferred with the traditional title “Ivaan I Tiv” (The Arrow of Tiv) by the Tiv Traditional Council in Lagos.
The 2026 NSAS Awards will feature lectures and discussions centered on the theme, “Promoting a Healthy Psychosocial Workplace,” with notable experts and policymakers expected to participate.
From Jude Dangwam, Jos
Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang has convened a strategic meeting with former governors of the state towards addressing the security challenges bedevilling the state.
The meeting held on Thursday at the News Government House Little Rayfield had the presence of former Governor Samuel Bitrus Atukum, former Governor Fidelis Tapgun, former Governor Joshua Dariye, former Governor Jonah David Jang and Former Governor Simon Lalong respectively.
Mutfwang maintained that the high-level engagement critically reviewed the prevailing security situation, particularly the recent violent attacks in rural communities across the state.
He noted that discussions were focused on fostering sustainable peace, strengthening unity, and promoting harmonious coexistence among all residents.
According to Governor Mutfwang, “I convened a strategic meeting with distinguished leaders and former Governors of Plateau State on Tuesday at the Government House, Little Rayfield, Jos. The meeting deliberated extensively on matters concerning the well-being, welfare, progress, and overall prosperity of the people of Plateau State.
“The high-level engagement critically reviewed the prevailing security situation, particularly the recent violent attacks in rural communities across the state. Discussions were focused on fostering sustainable peace, strengthening unity, and promoting harmonious coexistence among all residents.
“The leaders collectively resolved to pursue justice for all and to establish robust frameworks that reflect the enduring courage, discipline, hospitality and patriotism of the Plateau people within the Nigerian project,” he stated
The Governor reiterated that, “Emphasis was also placed on rebuilding fractured relationships and restoring trust, with the aim of reinforcing Plateau State’s longstanding identity as the Home of Peace and Prosperity,” says Mutfwang.
Pope Leo has criticised leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants” in unusually forceful comments during a visit to Cameroon.
The pontiff blasted those he said had manipulated “the very name of God” for their own gain, while touring a region ravaged by a deadly insurgency.
The remarks come just days after a high-profile spat with US President Donald Trump, who posted a lengthy attack on the Pope, a vocal critic of the US-Israeli military operation in Iran.
The Pope had voiced his concern about Trump’s threat that “a whole civilisation will die” if Iran did not agree to US demands to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz.
Leo, who last year became the first US-born Pope, has previously also questioned the Trump administration’s approach to immigration.
“Leo should get his act together as Pope,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post at the time.
The Pope told reporters at the start of his Africa tour that he did not want to get into a debate with Trump but would continue to promote peace.
Speaking in Cameroon, the Pope criticised leaders who “turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found”.
“The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild,” he said on Thursday.
The Pope also condemned “an endless cycle of destabilisation and death” in a “bloodstained” region of Cameroon that has been gripped by insurgency for nearly a decade.
“Those who rob your land of its resources generally invest much of the profit in weapons, thus perpetuating an endless cycle of destabilisation and death,” he told those gathered at a cathedral in the north-western city of Bamenda – the centre of the violence that has left at least 6,000 people dead and displaced many more.
“Peace is not something we must invent: it is something we must embrace by accepting our neighbour as a brother and as our sister,” the Pope said.
Separatist insurgents in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions have been fighting the predominantly Francophone government since 2017.
Following Leo’s address, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, said that she stood with the Pope in his “courageous call for a kingdom of peace”.
The war in Iran has increasingly placed the Pope and the Trump administration at odds.
Soon after the first US and Israeli attacks on Iran, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth recited a highly controversial prayer at a Pentagon worship service that talked of “overwhelming violence” and “justice executed swiftly and without remorse”.
Then, during a Palm Sunday Mass in St Peter’s Square, the Pope said the conflict between Iran, Israel and the US was “atrocious” and that Jesus could not be used to justify war.
“This is our God: Jesus, king of peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” he told tens of thousands of worshippers gathered in Vatican City.
“He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
The pontiff also quoted the Bible passage Isaiah 1:15: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.”
Earlier this week, Trump launched a scathing attack on the Pope on social media, in which he described the leader of the Catholic Church as “WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy” while portraying himself as a Jesus-like figure.
He later doubled-down on his criticism and refused to apologise – but deleted the AI-generated image of himself.
Asked about the US president’s remarks as he arrived in Algiers, the Pope said he had “no fear” of the Trump administration and that he would continue to speak out against war.
The Catholic leader’s wide-ranging Africa tour will include stops in 11 cities across four countries. It is his second major foreign visit since being elected to the papacy last year, and reflects the importance of Catholicism in Africa.
More than a fifth of the world’s Catholics – some 288 million people – live in Africa, according to figures from 2024.
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