Kogi Guber: Tribunal adjourns to March 14 as Court docket of Attraction units apart inspection order

The Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, on Monday, adjourned the listening to within the petition filed by Social Democratic Social gathering, SDP and its candidate, Murtala Ajaka, till March 14.

The petitioners are difficult the election of Governor Ahmed Ododo of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The event adopted the Court docket of Attraction judgement that put aside the tribunal’s inspection order granted the SDP and expunged paragraphs ‘g’, ‘okay’ and ‘n’ of the sooner ruling.

Upon resumption of listening to on Monday, counsel to the petitioners, Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, moved for the enterprise of the day.

However the first respondent’s lawyer, Kanu Agabi, SAN, drew the eye of the tribunal to the choice of the Attraction Court docket and an affidavit to the impact.

This necessitated the adjournment for the tribunal to take the applying.

In the meantime, tendering of Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee, INEC, units and others, scheduled for Monday, couldn’t proceed in view of the appellate courtroom’s choice.

The Attraction Court docket sitting in Abuja had, on Friday, put aside the inspection Order granted the candidate of the Social Democratic Social gathering, SDP by the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja.

The tribunal had, on Nov. 25, 2023, granted an ex-parte order, permitting the SDP and its candidate within the Nov. 11, 2023 governorship ballot to hold out forensic examination of all of the Bimordal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) used within the election, amongst different reliefs.

However the three-member panel of justices led by Justice J.O.Ok. Oyewole, in a unanimous ruling, put aside the inspection order on the grounds that it went outdoors the provisions of the Electoral Act.

The appellate courtroom held that whereas inspection is allowed below the Electoral Act, it should be collectively carried out with the respondents and the scope of the inspection needs to be throughout the strict restrict allowed below the Electoral Act.

“The ex parte order made by the trial tribunal on the twenty fifth November, 2023 on the occasion of the first and 2nd respondents are throughout the jurisdictional competence of the mentioned tribunal.

“Nonetheless, paragraphs ‘g’, ‘okay’ and ‘n’ thereof are past the scope of Part 146 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022. The mentioned paragraphs ‘g’, ‘okay’ and ‘n’ are hereby expunged.

“The inspection purportedly carried out pursuant to the mentioned orders of the trial tribunal with out the presence of the appellant violates paragraph ‘h’ of the mentioned orders and it’s hereby put aside,” the panel dominated

Different members of the Attraction Court docket panel embrace Justices A. I. Banjoko and A.B. Mohammed.