Court invalidates Senator Ohere’s victory, declares Natasha Akpoti winner of Kogi Central election

Court invalidates Senator Ohere’s victory, declares Natasha Akpoti winner of Kogi Central election

The Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal made a significant ruling on Wednesday, invalidating the victory of Sen. Abubakar Ohere in the Kogi Central senatorial election. Instead, the tribunal declared Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan as the rightful winner of the February election.

In delivering the unanimous judgement, Tribunal Chairman Justice K. A. Orjiako revealed that the results of Sen. Ohere were inflated in nine polling units within Ajaokuta Local Government Area (LGA). Additionally, the electoral commission, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), intentionally reduced Natasha’s results in those areas. Furthermore, three polling units’ results, also from Ajaokuta LGA, were deliberately not recorded for Natasha.

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After addressing these discrepancies and making the necessary corrections, the court declared Natasha, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the winner of the election with a total of 54,074 votes. Sen. Ohere of the All Progressives Congress (APC) obtained 51,291 votes.

This ruling marks a significant development in the Kogi Central senatorial election, with Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan rightfully declared as the winner based on the corrected figures and evidence presented to the tribunal.