The PDP has rejected weekend’s Court of Appeal judgment on the Kogi State governorship election, affirming Governor Yahaya Bello of the APC as being duly elected.
PDP said the judgment did not vitiate or detract from the fact that it won the November 16, 2019 governorship election.
The party expressed shock that the Appeal Court in its judgment decided to discount the merit of the evidence before it, which showed that the PDP candidate, Mr. Musa Wada, scored the highest valid votes in the election.
He said the party was optimistic that the Supreme Court would reverse the injustice done to the party, especially, given the evidence laid, as affirmed by the verdict of Justice Ohimai Obiageli at the Election Tribunal.
A statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said the judgment of the Appeal Court would be a major setback to Nigeria’s democratic process if left unchallenged.
“Our party holds that discounting of hard evidence of over-voting, massive thumb printing, voter intimidation, thuggery, and other irregularities and malpractices used by the APC and compromised INEC officials to manipulate the results of the election would be reviewed at the Supreme Court.
“Justice on any matter is based on the weight of evidence before a court.
The failure by the Appeal Court to consider key and essential ingredients of evidence before it on their merit, as already admitted and upheld by a judgment of a preceding court, amounted to a frustration of the course of justice in the matter,” PDP said.
