The election petition tribunal sitting in Lokoja has declared Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the winner of the February 25 Kogi Central Senatorial election, thereby sacking Sen. Abubakar Ohere of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from the senate.
The Tribunal Chairman, Justice K. A. Orjiako, who read the unanimous judgment of the three-man panel, established that there were discrepancies in the originals of the two candidates.
Consequently, the court held that Ohere’s results were inflated in nine polling units of Ajaokuta Local Government Area (LGA), while the judgment of Natasha was intentionally reduced in the areas by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as well as three other polling unit results that were deliberately not entered for Natasha in the same LGA.
In the actual results declared by the court after making proper corrections, Natasha of the PDP polled a total vote of 54,074, defeating her closest rival, APC’s Ohere, who scored 51,291 votes.
