Court declares Natasha Akpoti as winner of Kogi Election

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has upheld Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, as the rightful winner of the Kogi Central Senatorial Election.

This decision affirms the judgment of the Tribunal, which had previously declared Akpoti as the victor of the February 2023 election.

The Court of Appeal, in its judgment issued on Tuesday, dismissed the appeal lodged by Abubakar Ohere, who ran as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, on the grounds of lacking merit.

This verdict follows a previous ruling by the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal in September, which nullified the victory of Abubakar Ohere in the Kogi Central Senatorial Election.

In response to the tribunal’s decision, the APC candidate appealed the judgment. However, the higher court has now upheld Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan as the rightful winner of the election.

It is worth noting that the election petition tribunal in Lokoja had initially, on September 6, 2023, declared Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the winner of the Kogi Central Senatorial election, which took place on February 25, 2023.

The tribunal’s chairman, Justice K.A. Orjiakoin, revealed that Uduaghan secured 54,064 votes, surpassing her closest rival, Abubakar Sadiku Ohere of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who garnered 51,291 votes.

Justice Orjiakoin also highlighted discrepancies in the results, stating that Ohere’s votes were inflated in nine polling units of Ajaokuta Local Government Area (LGA).

In contrast, Natasha’s results were deliberately reduced in those areas by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Furthermore, three polling units’ results were intentionally omitted for Natasha in the same LGA.

This raised concerns about the accuracy of the initial election results, ultimately leading to the tribunal’s decision to declare Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as the legitimate winner of the Kogi Central Senatorial Election.