Natasha Akpoti loses Kogi election appeal at Supreme Court

Natasha Akpoti

The Supreme Court has rejected the request for nullification of Kogi governorship election by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its candidate Natasha Akpoti.

Governor Yahaya Bello of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election held last November.

In a unanimous judgment on Monday, a seven-man panel of the apex court led by the Chef Justice of Nigeria Muhammad Tanko dismissed the appeal by the SDP and Akpoti for lacking in merit.

In the lead judgment authored and delivered by Justice Uwani Abba Aji, the court said it was unnecessary to disrupt the concurrent decisions of the tribunal and the Court of Appeal which upheld Bello’s victory.

The court held that the SDP and Akpoti failed to lead credible and substantial evidence to support their claims.

The Supreme Court had earlier on Monday dismissed the appeal by the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate Musa Wada‎ on similar grounds.