By Ayegba Jeseph
The Kogi State Governorship Elections on November 11, 2023, were marred by controversy as the illegal government of Governor Yahaya Bello tried to interfere with the judicial review process.
Bello’s Commissioner of Information, Kingsley Fanwo, who was exposed as a liar by Bello himself, asked INEC to ignore the Kogi State Elections Tribunal’s order to inspect the election materials.
This was seen as one of the many desperate attempts by the Kogi Government, led by Fanwo, to sabotage, undermine, or hinder the tribunal’s work, casting doubt on the validity of the electoral process.
Mr. Bello and his security accomplices resorted to extreme measures on November 29, 2023, by dressing more than 500 thugs in SDP T-shirts to stop the inspection of election materials.
Moreover, planned attacks on the Resident Electoral Commissioner on December 1, 2023, and the Secretary of the Election Tribunal on December 6, 2023, showed the government’s resolve to disrupt the judicial review process.
In an unprecedented move, election materials were moved to Abuja to protect them from being destroyed by the illegal government, resulting in an indefinite postponement of the Tribunal on November 30.
Despite these obstacles, the SDP is determined to pursue its petition within the legal 180-day period.
The recent rant by Mr. Bello’s spokesperson, Fanwo, demanding a stop to the inspection of materials is seen as a continuation of their campaign to discredit the process and waste legal time.
However, the SDP stands firm in challenging the outlaws and calls for a fair judicial review to decide the outcome of the alleged electoral fraud.
Despite attempts to kill INEC officials and tribunal members and using thugs to disrupt the process, the SDP stresses that stolen mandates will not be protected by such tactics.
The time is running out as the judicial review process continues
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