Supreme Court Reverses Court Of Appeal Ruling, Permits SDP’s Ajaka To Inspect Kogi Governorship…

Supreme Court has upheld the order of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which granted the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) permission to inspect election materials from the November 2023 election in Kogi State.

Last year, the Tribunal granted an ex parte order allowing the SDP and its governorship candidate, Murtala Ajaka, to carry out a forensic examination of all the Bimodal Voters Accreditation system (BVAS) used in the election, among other reliefs.

However, on March 1, 2024, a three-person panel of justices of the Court of Appeal set aside the inspection order.

But on Thursday, the apex court dismissed the decision of the Court of Appeal and upheld the trial court’s decision.

In a unanimous decision read by Justice Emmanuel Akomoye Agim, the Supreme Court held that the trial court’s order was within the scope of section 146 of the Electoral Act.

The court stated, “Our position is that the motion seeking to set aside the Court of Appeal was wrong to have reversed the decision of the trial court that the motion seeking to set aside the decision of the trial Tribunal was incompetent.

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“We do not agree with the Court of Appeal. The motion was filed out of time. Secondly, the order of the trial court was within the scope of section 146 of the Electoral Act.

“In light of the foregoing, this appeal is allowed, and the cross-appeal dismissed with no costs,” the court held.”