The judgment of Supreme Court yesterday which granted the approval for the use of forensic analysis by the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, it has changed the ongoing permutations and may cause another political drama in the state.
The 2019 Kogi State governorship election which was adjudged to be the worst governorship election in the state may be on its way to be nullified.
The first runner up in the election, Musa Wada of PDP, who managed to score just 112,762 votes insisted that he was the winner of the election having scored the highest number of valid votes, praying to be declared the winner of the Kogi State 2019 governorship election.
With the approval of the forensic analysis, the 406,222 claimed by Governor Yahaya Bello will now be put to test for verification and if the claim of electoral frauds alleged by Musa Wada is ascertained through the forensic analysis, the Tribunal may cancel most of the votes claimed by Yayaha Bello of APC.
Can Tribunal Declare Wada The Winner of the Election ?
While the camp of Musa Wada are still celebrating the victory of yesterday’s judgment by Supreme Court on the use of Forensic analysis, one thing the supporters of the PDP candidate should know is that it will be difficult for Tribunal to declare Wada the winner of the election with his number of votes.
Yahaya Bello used 216,518 votes margin to defeat Musa Wada which is far more than the 112,762 votes scored by the PDP candidate.
Judging from the precedents, it is clear that with the use of forensic analysis, a larger chunk of 406,222 votes claimed by Yahaya Bello of APC may be canceled but that may not necessary translate to automatic victory for the PDP candidate.
If the the Tribunal subjects the votes of seven local Government where Musa Wada claimed there were over-voting, manipulation of figures and other irregularities, and cancel the 216,518 margin of Yahaya Bello, it will be difficult for Tribunal to declare Musa Wada the winner of the election because the number of ‘canceled votes’ will be far more than the number of votes scored by the PDP candidate.
What The Use Of Forensic Analysis Might Cause
It will also be difficult for Yahaya Bello to sustain his victory because of the too many irregularities that characterised the governorship election which may not skip through forensic analysis.
With the available indicators, Kogi State may go for either fresh election or a re-run election in the ‘canceled local government areas’ if Tribunal answers the prayer of Musa Wada.
From Opera News Hub
