A civil society group, Electoral Integrity and Good Governance Initiative, has appealed to the Supreme Court Judges handling the Kogi State governorship election appeal before the apex court to look into the case properly in a bid to correct what they described as “the mistake of the lower courts.”
In a statement made available to journalists, the spokesman of the group, Dr. Kolawole Abiodun, said the inconsistencies witnessed in the Kogi State governorship case when compared to that of Bayelsa State called for a serious concern.
According to him, in Kogi State SDP Versus APC case, the Election Petitions Tribunal, despite compelling BVAS evidences displayed openly on the order of the court, exposing alleged clear discrepancies between the number of accredited voters and the final results in all the polling units in contention, the Tribunal went ahead to dismiss the case on the ground that it was proved beyond reasonable doubt.
He noted that in the Bayelsa APC Vs PDP case, the Tribunal and the Appeal Court affirmed the judgement in favour of the PDP, on the basis of missing BVAS evidence the APC gubernatorial candidate did not produce to prove the allegation of over-voting.
The statement added that the Bayelsa judgement appeared to set a precedent for the importance of BVAS in the electoral process as introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a means to ensure transparency and accountability in the voting process.
The CSO, therefore, expressed confidence in the Supreme Court to thoroughly examine the 2023 Kogi governorship case and stand by justice, and maintain public confidence in its ability to deliver impartial and well-reasoned judgement.