Wada rejects tribunal’s judgment, vows to proceed on appeal

From CHRISTIANA EKPA, Lokoja

The former Governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada, has rejected the judgment of the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that dismissed his petition.

Speaking through his Special Adviser, Media and Strategy, Jacob Edi, the former governor said he would appeal the ruling of the tribunal.

He said as a believer in the judicial system of the country, he would prosecute the case and go ahead with an appeal before the appellate court.

He said, “We believe in the judiciary and we still have confidence in the judiciary of the country. Since the law of the land provides that we can still move ahead to a higher court, we will utilise the opportunities available to us.”

“We know that judiciary is the last hope of the common man, so, we are definitely going to file our appeal and we are confident of getting judgment,” Wada maintained.

The former Governor had early this Tuesday failed in his bid to nullify the election of Governor Yahaya Bello who emerged winner of the supplementary election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the death of Abubakar Audu.

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Wada, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the November 21, 2015 governorship election in the state, had filed a petition before the Kogi State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, demanding that he be declared the winner of the November 21 and December 5 election, stressing that he polled the highest number of votes.

The former governor argued that Bello only polled 6,805 votes in the ‎December 5 supplementary election and could not possibly inherit the 240,867 votes polled by the original candidate of the APC, late Prince Abubakar Audu, in the November 21, 2015 election.
Wada, in his petition, also contended with the nomination of Bello as a replacement for the original candidate of the APC, the late Audu.

But the Justice Hamima Mohammed-led tribunal sitting in Abuja ruled that Wada “lacked locus standi” to question the nomination of his APC counterpart, Bello, adding that the nomination and sponsorship of Bello as a governorship candidate was an internal affair.

The tribunal held that only those who participated in the party’s primary election has the legal right to inquire into the nomination of the party’s candidate.