Olu Samuel, Lokoja

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed the victory of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Customs, Jibrin Isah aka Echocho.

During the judgment delivered on Thursday, the appellate court determined that the witness upon which the tribunal based its decision was not qualified. As a result, the exhibits presented by this witness were removed from the records.

Subsequently, the Court of Appeal in a judgement delivered by Honourable Justice Bature Isah Gafai overturned the tribunal’s verdict and confirmed Isah’s triumph.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had initially declared Jibrin Isah, representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the Kogi East Senatorial District election.

However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Victor Adoji, who came in second place, contested the victory. Adoji argued that the elections were annulled in certain polling units where the number of collected permanent voter cards (PVCs) exceeded the margin of victory.

He urged the tribunal to invalidate Isah’s win and order a supplementary election in the 94 affected polling units within the senatorial district.

The tribunal unanimously ruled for a rerun in the 94 polling units with election irregularities.
Dissatisfied with this judgment, Isah filed an appeal against the lower court’s decision.

In response to the court’s decision, Senator Jibrin Isah expressed that his victory in the Court reaffirms the mandate given to him by his constituents.

He commended the people of his constituency and assured the people of Kogi State East that he would provide more robust and impactful representation at the National Assembly, fulfilling his campaign promises.