Ahmed Usman Ododo, Kogi State governor, has welcomed the judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja that upheld the decision of the governorship election petition tribunal affirming his return as the duly elected governor of Kogi State.
Reacting to the judgment, Ododo commended the people of Kogi State for their support and expressed appreciation to the judiciary for the swift and expeditious manner with which it dealt with the appeal, adding that the court has again demonstrated that the mandate freely given to him by the people of the state cannot be upturned by persons who may not agree with the will of God and the majority of the people of the state.
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He said: “I give thanks to God for seeing us through this phase of the court processes and I thank the people of Kogi State for uniting behind our administration and the steps we are taking to serve our people with the best of our ability.
“The judgement of the Appeal Court reaffirms the fact that the November 2023 Governorship election in Kogi State was free, fair, peaceful, and credible.
“By the grace of God, our administration has become the symbol of peace and unity in our state and we are committed to serving our people on the basis of equity and inclusion.
“I thank the judiciary for staying true to its independence with this judgement of the Appeal Court that has reaffirmed the earlier decision of the Tribunal which is a clear testament that the mandate freely given to us by the people of Kogi State was done in the best interest of our state.”
The Appeal Court in a unanimous decision dismissed all grounds of appeals filed by candidates of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Action Alliance (AA) and the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) for being incompetent and for lacking in merit.
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