KOGI: Appeal Court vindicates Wada’s election, throws out ACN appeal

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed the appeal of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) against the election of the Kogi State governor, Idris Wada, who contested and won the governorship election of the state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Kogi State governor, Captain Idris Wada

In a three hour judgment, the Justices of the Court of Appeal ruled that 74 of the 88 witnesses brought by the appellant gave a hearsay account of irregularities during the election, which cannot be entertained by any court.
The lead judge, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa ruled that the ACN failed to prove that there was a clear evidence of non-compliance with the electoral act in the conduct of the governorship election.
The governorship candidate of the ACN, Abubakar Audu is challenging the declaration of Captain Wada as the duly elected governor of Kogi State in the December 3, 2011 governorship election.
The Kogi State governorship election petition tribunal had upheld the election of Captain Wada but Mr Audu approached the Appeal Court to reverse the judgment of the tribunal.
The ACN in Kogi State has vowed to exhaust all legal options available to them by proceeding to the Supreme Court to challenge the decision of the appeal court.
The governor has however appealed to the opposition to join hands with his government for the development of the state.