The Supreme Court has denied Yakubu Muritala Ajaka, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate in the recent Kogi State governorship election, his request to delay proceedings until his application for a full panel to hear an issue in his appeal is considered.
Ajaka and his party filed an appeal, SC/CV/654/2024, seeking to overturn the concurrent rulings of the Court of Appeal and the election tribunal, which confirmed the victory of Ahmed Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11, 2023, election.
During the appeal hearing on Monday, Pius Akubo, representing Ododo and the SDP, informed the court that his client had requested the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to form a full panel to address specific issues outlined in Paragraphs 4.28 and 4.29 of the appellant’s brief. Akubo contended that these paragraphs called for the court to depart from its prior decisions in considering the appeal.
Respondents' lawyers—Kanu Agabi (SAN) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joseph Daudu (SAN) for Ododo, and Emmanuel Ukala (SAN) for the APC—argued that the application was unnecessary and urged the current court to proceed with the appeal.
Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, leading the five-member panel, ruled that the specific issue for which the appellants sought a full panel was only a portion of the entire appeal. He indicated that the court, as constituted, could handle the appeal and directed Akubo to continue with the hearing.
Akubo presented and adopted his briefs, requesting the court to uphold the appeal, overturn the Court of Appeal's decision, and declare Ajaka as the legitimately elected governor of Kogi State.
In contrast, Agabi, Daudu, and Ukala presented their briefs, urging the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the Court of Appeal's ruling.
Justice Garba adjourned the judgment, stating that the decision date would be communicated to the parties involved.
No comments:
Post a Comment