'Victory!' Northern governors congratulate Yahaya Bello

Nigerian governors under the aegis of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF) have congratulated Yahaya Bello following his victory at the Supreme Court on Monday, August 31.

We recalled that the Supreme Court confirmed Bello of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the governorship election in Kogi state.

The apex court’s seven-man panel led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko, dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the election, Musa Wada.

In its judgment, the court upheld the concurrent decisions of the trial tribunal and the Court of Appeal that the petitioners failed to prove their claim that Bello was not lawfully returned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the election held on November 16, 2019.

In another judgment, the Supreme Court dismissed the request by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its candidate, Natasha Akpoti, for the nullification of the election of Governor Yahaya Bello.

In a statement by Governor Simon Bako Lalong who is the chairman of the forum, Bello’s Supreme Court victory was described as the restoration of the people’s mandate.

Lalong called the people of Kogi state to support the governor in order to bring dividends of democracy, growth and progress to the state.

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Meanwhile, we reported that the immediate past governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson, said the judgment of the election petition tribunal which annulled the state governorship election will not take effect until the matter gets to the Supreme Court.

Dickson, in a statement on Monday, August 17, said Duoye Diri remains the governor of Bayelsa state until all appeal processes are exhausted.