COURT OF APPEAL DISMISSES IDRIS WADAS' APPEAL AGAINST GOV BELLO'S ELECTION AS KOGI GOVERNOR

Former Governor of Kogi State, Idris Wada on Thursday lost his bid to unseat the current governor of the State, Yahaya Bello.
Wada had filed an appeal before the Abuja division of the appellate court, challenging the decision of the Kogi State Election Tribunal which upheld Bello’s victory in the last governorship election.
Dismissing Wada’s application, the Appeal Court in its decision held that the All Progressives Congress, APC, validly substituted its deceased candidate in the last governorship election, the late Abubakar Audu, with Bello.

Justice Mojeed Owoade, who read the lead judgment, maintained that the governor participated in all the stages “by virtue of his party’s participation and accrued interest.”
The appellate court also said the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, acted properly by merging the votes scored by Audu and that of Bello in the supplementary election which led to the declaration of the APC candidate as the winner of the poll.