The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, on Tuesday, said he accepts the Appeal Court’s verdict affirming Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party as the duly elected Senator for Kogi Central.
“I accept the decision of the appeal court and I use this opportunity to congratulate my sister, Barrister Natasha as a senator of the Kogi Central Senatorial District,” Bello told State House correspondents after the Police Council meeting at the Aso Rock Villa.
He added,
“I, as the executive governor of Kogi State received the news of the decision of the Court of Appeal nullifying the election of Senator Abubakar Ohere, and affirming Barrister Natasha Akpoti as the senator representing Kogi Central.”
Earlier, the court had dismissed the appeal filed by Ohere of the All Progressives Congress for lacking in merit.
The state Election Petitions Tribunal, in September, had declared Akpoti-Uduaghan winner of the Kogi Central Senatorial election and it also invalidated the victory of Ohere.
The tribunal chairman, Justice K. A. Orjiako, delivered the unanimous judgment of the three-person panel, revealing that Ohere’s results were inflated in nine polling units in the Ajaokuta Local Government Area.