By Esther Yakubu
The Kogi State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday dismissed the petition filed by former Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye.
Recall Melaye had file a petition to challenge the victory of his successor, Senator Smart Adeyemi, at the November 2019 by-election.
But delivering judgment on the petition, the three-man panel led by Justice Isa Sambo, unanimously affirmed Adeyemi’s election as the winner of the disputed poll.
The rerun, which held in 53 polling units on November 30, 2019, was ordered in the judgment of the Court of Appeal which nullified Melaye’s victory in the main election which earlier held in March 2019.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress, who garnered 88,373 votes as the winner of the poll.
INEC declared that he defeated Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party who polled 62,133.
In its judgment on Wednesday, the tribunal held that both Melaye and his party failed to prove their claims in the petition.
