Gov. Usman Ododo of Kogi has called on governorship candidates of the opposition parties in the state, including Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), to support him in the project of developing the state.
Gov. Ododo made the call following the the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, which affirmed his victory on Monday in the Nov. 11, 2023 Kogi governorship poll.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tribunal, on Monday, dismissed three separate petitions filed by the SDP, Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Action Alliance (AA) and their governorship candidates against Gov. Ododo’s election victory.
The three-member panel of justices, headed by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu, in separate judgments, affirmed Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the valid winner of the election.
The panel, in a unanimous decision, held that the poll was conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The SDP and its governorship candidate, Ajaka; the PRP and its candidate, Abdullahi Bayawo, and their counterpart in AA, Olayinka Braimoh, had filed the petitions to challenge the election victory of APC and Ododo.
Reacting to the judgment , Ododo called on the politicians to join hands with him to develop the state.
He told journalists that his victory at the tribunal is for the good people of the state who voted for him massively during the off-cycle election.
According to the governor, the time for real work for the development of Kogi State has come.
He, therefore, commended President Bola Tinubu for not interfering in the affairs of the judiciary, which he described as “the last hope of the common man.”
“With the courageous judgment of the tribunal, it has indeed shown that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man,” he said, while thanking the tribunal for doing justice in the petitions against his election.
He said his victory would spur him to work hard in bringing the dividends of democracy to the good people of the state.
Ododo however said the state was still mourning the death of the two university students who were kidnapped and murdered by gunmen.
He said he had wished they were alive to celebrate his victory with him as they also voted for him during the election.
The governor assured that the killers of the students would be arrested and brought to book.(NAN
